Ranamon:
by rika195
Summary: Digital World at peace. Legendary Warriors don't have to fight. So now what? They get to REBUILD! The only problem? Ranamon doesn't know HOW! So it looks like she's going to have to learn...by going on a quest that will change her life forever!
1. The Problem:

**..:Ranamon:..**

-.-

_The Digital World is finally at peace...something that doesn't usually last very long. But now that the war with Lucemon is over, and the Legendary Warriors are back in action, things have changed. A lot of things. The Legendary Warrior's job description as well..._

_This is a story about my favorite Legendary Warriors...the ones that everyone likes the least. What is their story? How do they deal with their failure of being evil, and their second chance now that they are good again? There is much they have to learn...Ranamon especially. _

_This story is about her...and her search for her true character...a quest that will take her to places she never would have gone. _

_It's a story that even I am inspired by. _

_ Have fun!_

_-.-_

Digimon doesn't belong to me.

-.-

**Chapter One**

-.-

"Ranamon!"

The harsh sound of Kazemon's scolding voice snapped the water-digimon out of her wandering thoughts back into the present. She glanced upwards lazily, not bothering to move a muscle. Her eyes were half-closed as she lay on her back in the sand, soaking in the sun without a care in the world. What did Kazemon want anyway?

"Ranamon, you know we have duties, remember?" Kazemon floated above her, hands on her slender hips. She frowned, tossed her pink hair, then lighted upon the sandy beech. "We're supposed to be protecting and supervising the rebuilding of the Digital World, and you are not doing the work! You're just lying there on the beech, not even checking up on your sector to make sure things are still going as planned!"

Ranamon sighed deeply, closing her eyes. "Oh Kazemon," she said dramatically. She lifted a hand and scratched her left cheek. It had begun to itch from a speck of sand that would not blow off in the wind. "I _do _have it all worked out. I've already organized the digimon into their work groups, and they have promised to do the work. What's wrong with taking a break?"

Kazemon reached down and grabbed Ranamon's hand, yanking her to her feet. "What's wrong is that your digimon work crew is not doing any work, and your sector is still in turmoil! This sector is a complete mess! Digimon are fighting each other, not making up, not doing anything, and claiming that if you can not do it, so can they! You need to get in there and fix things!"

Ranamon yanked her arm away, huffing. "I will, I was just taking a nap." She brushed sand off of her skin, avoiding meeting the other Warrior's eyes. "You don't have to tell me what to do."

Kazemon shook her head. "Ranamon…" she sighed. "But I do. You won't work. You won't do your part. Everyone else will, just not you! Why are you so lazy? Don't you know that you can't just do nothing, and expect to get away with it?"

"I'm not doing nothing! I just haven't started yet!"

"Ranamon…"

Ranamon crossed her arms, glancing down at the sand. She bit her lip, struggling to keep her face straight. "Fine, I'll do it. Just…leave me alone. Okay?" She kept her face downward, ignoring the other Warrior until she got tired and left. Then she sat slowly on the ground. Her hand clenched the sand, letting it slip though her fingers, and she stared at the sea helplessly. "Truth is," she whispered, hugging herself with her other arm, "I don't know how to work."

She sat limply on the beech, fingering the coarse sand, until she could sit there no longer. Kazemon would be watching. She stood reluctantly, glancing around her. Then she marched off to find a digimon that needed to work.

That Kazemon…she always was telling people what to do, because she always knew what to do. It got annoying! But she was good at it. Face it; Kazemon was good at giving direction. Agunimon was great at encouraging digimon while leading them. Lobomon was good at leading by example, and so was Lowemon. Kumamon was great at making work fun. Arbormon was obsessed with work, and was an amazing teacher. Grumblemon threatened…but it was all in fun. He made sure digimon did their jobs—in a drill sergeant sort of way…but he did just as much as everyone else. The digital world needed rebuilding, badly! And everyone had to help. Even Mercurymon was good at making things get done. No one knew how he did it, but his digimon were always in line, never complaining, and everything got done fast. But Ranamon?

"Me?" she picked a flower, staring at it angrily. "I don't even know how to work, let alone make digimon work! Kazemon always says you can't make someone do something if you can't do it yourself. Well…she's right." She crushed the flower in her distress, and instantly regretted it. A small tear slipped from her eye. "Digimon used to do things for me because they adored me, but since I turned evil, everyone hates me! But I guess the real truth is…I just don't know how to do any of that stuff!"

She leaned against a tree, failing to find anyone, and pouted for a long time. It was several minutes before she realized that somemon was staring at her. Startled, she jumped back, looked down at the little digimon across from her.

"Who…are you?" she asked, regaining control. She mentally prepared herself, wondering how she could get at least one digimon to do what was required of him. The little digimon stared up at her with large black eyes, and she found herself wanting to pick it up and hug it. For some reason, it just evoked that reaction in her. Probably because it was so cute.

"I'm Salamon," the little floppy-eared cat digimon said quietly. She smiled faintly, and then cocked her head. "Are you Ranamon?"

Ranamon nodded. "Yes, I am. I'm…the leader of this sector. I've come to make sure things shape up." She stood up as tall as she could, wishing she was taller than 4' 11''. It just wasn't very impressive.

"My mom says that you're a lazy wanna-be who spends more time looking at yourself in a mirror than doing what you're supposed to." The little Salamon stared up at her innocently. "She says you're the worst of the Legendary Warriors. Is that true?"

Ranamon's mouth fell open, and she stuttered in complete shock. Worst? Of them all? She closed her mouth, pressing her lips together, and then knelt down on the ground weakly. "I…don't know…maybe it is true…" she swallowed, but the tears came anyway. "I just…never knew how to do anything they could…all I could do was fight…and I was strong…it was the only reason I became a Legendary Warrior…but….I guess I never really fit in to begin with." She covered her face with her hands, crying miserably. "I was never good at anything besides fighting, and now I don't even get to do that anymore!"

She sobbed loudly for a while, trying to force herself to calm down. It was not becoming, and she hating looking weak and miserable, even if that was exactly what she was. She nearly jumped out of her skin when something touched her leg, and she pulled her hands away from her face to look down. It was Salamon.

"Don't cry, Ranamon!" the little digimon sniffed, pawing her leg gently in a comforting motion. "Please don't cry. I don't think you're bad! I don't know how to do hardly anything either!"

"But you're just a kid! I'm supposed to be a Legendary Warrior!" Ranamon wiped her face, turning her head away. "And I don't even know why I became one to begin with." She stood, regaining control, and looked around her. "I have to figure out how to make this sector come back to order, and I can't sit around and cry because I don't know how to do anything. I have to learn somehow."

Salamon leapt at her, grabbing her arm and dragging itself into Ranamon's hold. The little digimon seemed determined to keep Ranamon company. "Why don't you know how to do anything? Didn't you go to Digimon School?"

Ranamon smiled faintly, appreciating the small comfort of a temporary friend. "No," she admitted. "I didn't. I was brought up by my mother, and I was never allowed to do anything with other digimon. You see, I was a…"

"Salamon!"

Ranamon turned to see a Gatomon standing a ways away, a furious expression on her face. Feeling she had just gotten in trouble, Ranamon let Salamon down to the ground, then stepped backwards.

"Salamon, we're going home." Gatomon grabbed the little Salamon, then turned and marched off, not even bothering to lower her voice. "Why are you hanging out with that lousy excuse of a digimon? She's worthless, and I don't want you hanging out with her type!"

Ranamon bit her lip, turned, and fled. She didn't want to hear any more. Maybe it was better if she just ran away and hid…like she always did. She wasn't doing any good here anyway.

-.-

"It's Ranamon," Kazemon sighed. "She's always off playing, and nothing ever gets done in her sector! It's like she doesn't even care!" The fairy digimon brushed away a strand of loose hair, then continued sipping from her cup.

The Legendary Warriors were sitting around the large table in the Hall of Heroes, the large rock with holes in it that belonged to the Legendary Warriors. It was their hideout, where they all stayed. And for the most part, they ate and slept there. Most of them, anyway. Lately, it seemed only six of them ever hung out.

"Well…" Agunimon shrugged, struggling to find something to say in Ranamon's defense, and then shrugged again. "Maybe she needs some help. Encouragement."

"We've given her that and more! All she does is disappear again, and we have to go find her! She's going to give us a bad name!"

"What does it matter?" Lobomon stood up abruptly, decided to stand beside the table instead of sit. Since having humans be the conduits of their spirits, Lobomon had picked up distinct habits of Kouji's that he had never had before. Well…all of them had, really. Sometimes it was hard to get used to. "Who cares what kind of name we have? If we do our job, that's what matters. Maybe she's just not used to this whole idea of rebuilding instead of fighting. Our job status has changed since the beginning."

Lowemon nodded, still sitting in the corner where it was darkest. "Our job used to be protection only. We found, and we stopped fights. That was it. Now we hardly fight at all. Instead, we're rebuilding forests, bridges, cities, and getting digimon to work together. Where once we were warriors, now we're diplomats. We've jumped right into it because that's what the digidestined did, and we were able to follow their example. Ranamon probably just doesn't know how to deal with it."

"Then what about Arbormon? Mercurymon? And Grumblemon? Grumblemon destroys things for fun, and yet even he works his but off!" Kazemon sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "I just think Ranamon really doesn't care. All she wants to do is sit around and watch everyone else do the work! It's not fair to the rest of us!"

"Perhaps you have all forgotten who Ranamon is." A new voice joined the party of six at the table, and the legendary warriors turned in surprise to see the speaker standing in front of them. Mercurymon's face was serious, and he stood in the shadows in the hallway across from them. Once satisfied at gaining their attention, he stepped in, turning to look at each one of them. "Do you remember who Ranamon really is?"

The blank looks on the Warriors faces answered the question for him, and Mercurymon offered a slight smirk. He leaned against the wall, lifting an arm and showing his mirror to them. "Lowemon was right. We used to be Warriors, not Diplomats. And there was plenty of honor in that. We were chosen because we were the best warriors, not because we were good leaders. We were chosen from each of the ten most powerful elements. But our use has ended. We are no longer Warriors. That job is over. Now we are leaders of restoration, those of us who can do that. Ranamon cannot, because she does not know how."

"What are you talking about?" Agunimon frowned. "We're still Legendary Warriors! Our job description just changed! That's all!"

"You are missing the point." Mercurymon sighed dramatically. "We were only chosen as Legendary Warriors in the beginning because we fit the job description best. Now that the job description has changed, some of us can no longer BE Legendary Warriors."

"Ranamon is still a Legendary Warrior," Agunimon insisted. "I don't know what you're getting at."

"Then look. Ranamon is a fighter and a puppet, and nothing more. She cannot do what you expect of her, if she has never learned how to do it. Neither could you do something that you have never learned. Do not be so quick to judge what you do not understand. Look and see: This is Ranamon. Do not expect her to suddenly become something she is not."

An image appeared on his mirror, an image of a water digimon. The digimon was lovely, dressed in royalty and standing on top of a glass tower. She lifted her right hand upward, and water swirled around her, destroyed anything it touched. Then she lowered her hand, and the water vanished. Then she stood there, waiting, while around her, other less-important water digimon scurried around her, doing everything for her without asking. And she turned and went inside a large blue castle, alone.

"Ranamon is a strong warrior, who has been taught nothing except how to fight. Everything else has been done for her." Mercurymon lowered his arm, then turned and began to walk out. "She was a Princess before she was a Warrior…a prisoner who could do nothing for herself. Do not expect her to suddenly know how to do everything you spent your entire life learning." He stopped and turned back, offering a slight smirk. "You must teach her." Then he left, leaving the six of them completely bewildered.

-.-

"Why did you stand up for her?" Grumblemon asked, fingering with his hammer. He scowled as Mercurymon entered the room. "Just because she doesn't know how to do work doesn't mean we let her get away with it. We don't just pity her and leave it at that!"

"Of course not," Mercurymon snapped. He seated himself on a large stone, glaring at the earth digimon. "I just want them to see that they are addressing the wrong problem. Ranamon has been deprived of a real upbringing. All her life, she was told what to do, and everything else was done for her. When she first joined us, she didn't even know how to think for herself. She just fought when we had to fight because she was good at it, and acted pretty the rest of the time because that was all she knew how to do! We cannot simply expect her to do something she cannot do, nor can we not ask her to do the same work we are doing."

"Then you just created an impossible situation." Grumblemon slammed the hammer into the ground, not very hard, but hard enough to send an echo through the rocks. "We can't do what we have to do, and we have to do what we can't do. What now?"

"We're going to have to force her to learn what we know and take for granted." Mercurymon smiled his secretive smile, and leaned against the wall. "And I have a plan that will probably solve all of our problems."

Grumblemon sat up, frowning. "I don't like that look," he mumbled. "What is your plan?"

Mercurymon's smirk widened. "We're going to send her on a quest…to find her true Beast Spirit."

Grumblemon's eyes widened, and his frown deepened. But he could already tell that Mercurymon was not about to change his mind. Sighing, he lifted his hammer, shaking his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Mercurymon's smile faded slightly, and he offered a small sigh. "I do," he whispered, turning away. "But it's not going to be easy…on her…or on me."

He stood and walked out, ignoring Grumblemon's confused expression. He wasn't about to explain himself.

-.-

_Welcome to the end of the beginning of a quest that will not be like any other quest that has taken place in the Digital World before._

_ Do you think you can handle it?_

_ We'll see, I guess._

_Comments? Questions? Critiques? Let me know so I can work on it. _

_Thanks for reading!_

_rika195 _


	2. Ready, Set, GO!

**..:Ranamon:..**

-.-

_Thanks so much to my ONE reviewer, **Rubberman2025** for being the only one to stop being so lazy and actually tell me what they think. This chapter is dedicated to you! Sheesh, I wish the other two people who alerted the story and the other 26 who read it would actually tell me what they thought too. But I guess you can't have everything. (sigh)._

_Onto the story then?_

_Enjoy! _

_-.-_

Digimon doesn't belong to me.

**Chapter Two**

-.-

"Ranamon."

The water Warrior sighed, clenching her hands into fists. Now what? More lectures? She turned around, her face impassive, and felt a dubious feeling of surprise filling her. Now Mercurymon, too, was trying to lecture her? "What do you want?" she demanded.

"To talk to you." Mercurymon too, kept his face impassive. He was standing in the sun, and the light reflecting off his mirrors seemed to make him glow. It made him look impressive.

"You, too?" she asked, scowling. "I don't want to talk to anyone." She turned away, trying not to sigh. She could still remember vividly what it felt like to be evil, and the memories of being Mercurymon's little puppet still haunted her. She had been blind to how he was using her, and now seeing him again, she still couldn't get over that feeling. She _knew _he wasn't evil anymore. But she couldn't stop thinking of him as the same.

"Ranamon, I know you better than anyone else does." Mercurymon's voice held a calm tone to it, as if he completely expected every response she was giving. "Do you think I don't remember? How could I forget? Even when I was evil I remembered."

"Yes I know." Ranamon turned and glared at him. "And you used me! I didn't even see it!"

Mercurymon sighed, shaking his head. "That's not why I'm here. I'm here because I have something important to tell you."

"What's that? That I'm no longer fit to be a Legendary Warrior? That I have to leave?" Tears filled her eyes, and frustrated, she wiped them away. "If that's what this is about, fine! I'll go. Figures you'd all kick me out."

"Why is it so hard for you to listen?" Mercurymon sighed again, more annoyed this time. "The duty of a Legendary Warrior has changed, and it has been hard for you to switch as easily as they others. Is this not true?"

"And now I have to leave?"

"Cut it out." Mercurymon scowled, crossing his arms. "The point is, that everyone else has been able to switch over easily, and you have not. That means that you have to _learn _how to do what is expected of you. We don't expect you to just suddenly know how to do what you've never been taught. We expect you to learn."

"No one else had to learn!" Ranamon crossed her arms too, glaring at him. "Why don't you just say it Mercurymon? I'm only good for fighting, and I'm not even very good at that!"

"Of course we all had to learn!" Mercurymon yelled. He stood up taller; the sunlight bouncing off him in such a way that he seemed to glow brightly. Ranamon cowered, startled by his tone. "What do you think the other Legendary Warriors were _doing _when the digidestined used their spirits? They had to learn _everything _all over again. Even how to fight! They went through a very tough training, one that I hope I never have to lower myself to. And the only reason that the rest of us did not have to go through that training is because we decided to teach ourselves. And that might have even been harder. You too, have to go through training. And THAT, Ranamon, is what we expect of you."

Ranamon bit her lip, struggling not to cry, and backed up again. "But…" she trembled slightly. "I don't know how to train myself…I don't know what to do…"

"That's why I'm here," Mercurymon sighed, his voice lowering. He sounded almost sad, and comforting. He stepped forward out of the sunlight, then knelt in front of Ranamon. "I will tell you what you must do, and you must do it with all your heart. Do you understand?"

Ranamon frowned, staring at him helplessly. "Do I have to?" she asked. "What if I don't want to?"

"Then the outcome will be more terrible than even you can imagine." Mercurymon sighed again. "Ranamon, you must go on a quest to find your Beast Spirit…your _true _Beast Spirit. That is the training required of you. You will know when it is finished, because you will have found what you are looking for."

"True Beast Spirit? What does that mean? I already found my Beast Spirit!"

"Ranamon, this is something that no one else will ever be able to do again. This is something just for you." Mercurymon took her hand, and a fractal code appeared around her. Slowly, he lifted his mirror and absorbed her Beast Spirit, then the fractal code faded. "What your Beast Spirit will look like depends on what you do while you are looking for her. If you are cruel, then your Beast Spirit will be ugly. If you force others to look for you, like you did last time, she will be vain and ugly. The uglier your heart, and the more lazy and the uglier your Beast Spirit will become. But…the opposite is true as well. The more loving you are, the more beautiful you are on the inside, the lovelier and powerful your Beast Spirit is going to be." He stood up, letting go of her hand. "And that is all I can tell you."

He turned and began walking away, leaving Ranamon standing there in shock. Then she ran after him. "Mercurymon wait! You can't just…I mean….what are you talking about? I have to find it all over again?"

"_Her_, Ranamon. You have to find _her._" Mercurymon did not look at her as he kept walking. But his face was sad.

"Her. Wait…what are you talking about? It's my Beast Spirit! It's a part of me!" Ranamon frowned.

"And she is also a separate digimon of her own. She is a part of you as much as a digidestined is a part of its digimon partner. Just as the digidestined could biomerge with the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, you do the same with your Beast Spirit. That does not mean she is not her own digimon."

"You're talking in riddles. I thought only Arbormon talked like that."

"I do not speak in riddles. Digimon just do not want to hear the truth in what I say." Mercurymon turned to her, giving her a stern expression. "Ranamon you must understand. This has never been done for anyone before. Never. You and your Beast Spirit have been given a chance that no one else will ever be given. So I suggest you stop wasting your time." He turned to keep walking.

"No wait! You said that I have to understand. Well I won't understand unless I learn! Why can't you just teach me?" Ranamon hung onto his mirror of his left arm, knowing that if he decided to vanish, he could not get rid of her. She looked up at him, a helpless expression her face, her eyes wide in what she knew was a begging look. But she couldn't help it. "Please…Mercurymon…" she gripped his mirror. "Please tell me more about my Beast Spirit."

Mercurymon sighed again. Ranamon half expected it. "I can only tell you a little bit. The rest you must learn. Do you understand?" Ranamon nodded eagerly. "Then please let go of my mirror."

Ranamon opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it again. Mercurymon usually kept his word….alright he always kept his word. And he had said please. She should act more lady-like anyway, right? Besides…Mercurymon had said that every act and decision would count. She let go, standing back a little, and smiled faintly at him. "Sorry."

The corner of Mercurymon's mouth turned up in a slight smile, and he nodded slowly. "Now listen hard, because I will not repeat this. What is the biggest problem you face when you get your Beast Spirit?"

Ranamon smiled. "That's easy. Controlling it. No one has ever been able to control their Beast Spirit the first time…except for Kazemon."

"Yes and No." Mercurymon sighed and shook his head. "Kazemon was not the only one. Grumblemon and his Beast Spirit understood each other…Arbormon and his did too. So did mine with me. But do you know why it is hard? Why there is a struggle for control?"

"Be…cause…our Beast Spirits are separate digimon as well. Right?" Ranamon frowned, wondering where he was leading, and hoping she could understand. Really, she didn't know the answer. She was just repeating something he had said earlier.

"Yes. But that's not all. The reason is because we think we are supposed to _control _our Beast Spirits. That is why there is a conflict. If we control our Beast Spirits, it means we are forcing them to be half of what they are, so that they cannot do anything. We do everything for them. We tell them what to do, and force them to obey us. They are prisoners. Puppets. You know that feels like, don't you?"

Ranamon opened her mouth, then shut it, shuddering. Memories of her life growing up…of being used...by her mother, by Mercurymon, by the Celestial Digimon…Slowly she nodded. "Yeah," she admitted. The thought of being forced to endure that for the rest of her life gave her shivers.

"That's what most of our Beast Spirits have to go through. BurningGreymon. KaiserLowemon. All the others besides four. That's five, not counting yours. You know how that feels, so I would think you'd better understand how to be in harmony with your Beast Spirit. That is the ultimate goal. Harmony. You want to understand each other, so that you can work together instead of strain for control. Once you have that harmony, you will unlock the power inside both of you that you would not be able to even understand otherwise." Mercurymon paused, staring off into space. "Look at the humans. When they truly understood their purpose, when they were truly in harmony…that was when they were the most powerful. Wasn't it?"

Ranamon nodded, afraid to speak for fear Mercurymon would stop talking. Her mind boggled at what he was saying. How did he know all of this? Where was this knowledge, this understanding coming from? Perhaps she did not know Mercurymon as well as she thought she did.

"Another thing about your Beast Spirit is that you do not always have to keep her in Spirit Form. She can be a separate being from you, but still in harmony with you. You can still, so to speak, control her, even being separate from her. Do you understand?"

"No…" Ranamon frowned. "How can that be? It's not possible for them to be separate from us."

"Think about what you just said. That's like saying it's impossible for Agunimon to be a separate digimon from Takuya." Mercurymon smirked. "And you know that's not true." He sighed, glancing down at the grass beneath their feet. "How you work with you Beast Spirit is between you and her. Sometimes your Beast Spirit may not even want to work with you at all. Luckily for you, that is not the case."

"What do you mean?" Ranamon raised an eyebrow, wondering how he knew so much about her Beast Spirit.

"Do you remember what you said when you first found her? You said she looked happy to see you. That's because she was. She is drawn to you because you are powerful and you are beautiful. And that is what she wants for you. She wants to be there for you. No one else is as lucky as you are to have that kind of devotion from their Beast Spirit. And that is why it is vital that you learn how to treat her right. You see, this quest determines what she is going to look like, and how effective she is going to be. You are determining what her future is going to be."

Ranamon's mouth gaped, and she stepped backwards in shock. "You…how can that be? That's not…that's not fair!"

"If you are evil at heart, no it is not. But know this: whatever your true nature may be, it will reflect on her." Mercurymon turned and began walking away. "And now I have said too much. Go, look for her. She misses you already." He vanished in a blink of an eye, leaving Ranamon in shock behind.

The water digimon stared at the space where he had been standing, then took her head in her hands. "This is so weird," she sighed. "Mercurymon…how can he do that? This has never been heard of! Everything he said…so different from everything I've ever known…" she sighed and dropped her hands, looking about her helplessly. "And I don't even know where to start!"

She began walking, glancing back and forth. Then she began running. She knew that she had to find her Beast Spirit in water. But which part of the water, what body of water, she didn't know. She shook her head, hoping that the rest of the Legendary Warriors would leave her alone until she completed her training…whatever kind of training this would be.

How was she supposed to learn everything by searching for her Beast Spirit?

-.-

_Mercurymon…_

Mercurymon glanced down at the rippling surface of the water, keeping his face impassive. The image of Ranamon's Beast Spirit wavered in the ripples, her violet-red eyes staring at him intensely. Her form was shadowy, as if it had already begun to lose the shape of Calmaramon. Did that mean that Ranamon's heart had already changed? That she was taking her quest seriously? The metal digimon hoped so.

_Mercurymon, why are you doing this? If she does not learn, I will be destroyed. And so will you. You can't waste your data on something that might not even work. Just let me go back and find her. I can teach her what she needs to know. Don't do this!_

"You're not even supposed to be Calmaramon," Mercurymon pointed out. "You're supposed to be Lady Marlinmon." He sighed, rubbing his glass-covered forehead with his finger. "If I don't do this, you will never return to what you were. And she will never be more than a puppet if she does not learn how to work. You gave up your form to become Ranamon's Beast Spirit, and because her heart was vain, it changed you into something you're not. This is a chance for both of you to become what you were meant to be."

_But why would you do something like this? What gives us your special attention? You are known for hiding to yourself, and working for your own benefit. Why the sudden change?_

"It's not so much a change as you would think," Mercurymon smiled faintly. "I have simply become bolder in doing the things that I should have done long ago. I used to be shy, you know."

_You? _Calmaramon seemed to laugh. _Stuck-up Mercurymon? Prince of the Metal Digimon? Shy?_

"What about you? Queen of the Bodies of Fresh Water? What gives Ranamon your special attention?"

_Seriously, answer my question._

"I will if you answer mine."

_Fair enough. Ranamon is different from her sisters, and her mother. She is more powerful, and more kind. But she has been corrupted by them, and I wanted her to learn how to be the kind little child she used to be. I loved her more than her mother ever did. That is why I became her Beast Spirit. To be able to protect her._

"Tragic story, one that is not yet finished." Mercurymon glanced in his mirror, Ranamon's reflection coming up in it. The Warrior was running around, asking random digimon if they'd seen her Beast Spirit. "I noticed her because she is the most like me. And I too was saddened by the corruption from her family. I just want to see her become what she was meant to be."

_How long have you known her?_

"Longer than anyone else…besides you. I knew her from my childhood." He sighed, stiffening up as his memories came back to him. "The first time I met her, she was the only digimon I'd ever met who had treated me like I was something special. No one else treated me like that, or even said a kind word to me. My father always pushed me to be better than I was, always lecturing and beating me. I never heard a good word about me my entire life growing up…until I met her. And because of that, I wanted to see her everyday. I couldn't of course, but I watched her from afar. I watched her slowly get sucked dry by all the royalty, until she was nothing more than something pretty to look at, with destructive powers. She did nothing for herself. And I felt like I had failed somehow." Mercurymon dropped his arm, his face hardening. "I still feel like I failed, and this is the only way I can get myself to stop feeling that way. She deserves it. After all, I never did say 'thank you' back then, when she was the only one to treat me kindly."

The image in the water faded even more, but a saddened expression entered the Beast Spirit's face. _Mercurymon, you are so different from what everyone thinks you are. Even I was deceived. I just wish you would stop hiding it._

"Hmm." Mercurymon offered a noncommittal noise. "Sometimes it is better to hide that you are weak at heart. Otherwise, who would take you seriously, when you are supposed to be an impressive figure?"

_A kind and compassionate digimon is much more impressive, because it is harder to be one. It is much easier to be heartless and cruel._

"Which is why I want Ranamon to find herself again…to find the compassion that she was forced to leave behind all those years ago." Mercurymon sighed then turned away. "I should let you rest. The process of change will be hard you. I hope to see you returned to what you once were….Lady Marlinmon."

The Beast Spirit smiled gently. _You're the only one who still calls me that. For that I could kiss you._

"Then I am all the more glad that you are stuck in there." Mercurymon smirked, then left the room. He needed some time to think and reflect. And besides, Lady Marlinmon was right. Using his own data to fuel Ranamon's Beast Spirit change was hard. And it was tiring. And there was still no guarantee that it would work. The process would kill him if it did not.

Shoving those thoughts out of his head, he rested against a rock, deciding to take a small nap.

-.-

_...And that's all for now._

_TADA! The quest has begun! Now we'll get to the more exciting stuff._

_Did anything confuse you? Annoy you? Or just seem like it wasn't quite right? (I mean about what Mercurymon was saying). How am I to know what you thought unless you TELL ME? (yeah, all you people out there who read this and are tempted NOT to review cause I want you to, lol, you're almost as much of a dork as I am. take that!) _

_Anyway...Thanks for reading! You rock!  
_

_-rika195 _


	3. For Friendship

**..:Ranamon:..**

-.-

_Thanks so much to my AWESOME and BRAVE reviewers, **Rubberman2025, Crazyeight, black peeches, **and **Tristar** for being the only ones to actually tell me what they think! This chapter is dedicated to you! You rock!  
_

_And in answer to your reviews..._

_**Rubberman2025:** Thank you! and thanks for the review! _

_**Crazyeight:** WOW! Your review wins a gold star for actual helpful points! I have many interesting things up my sleeve I hope continues to keep your interest! _

_**black peeches: **You're such an awesome friend, seriously! You are always so encouraging and you always read what I write. You are amazing. And...MAYBE there's a"something" between Mercurymon and Ranamon...but if there is, neither of them know about it! lol.  
_

_**Tristar: **Awww yeah, like the other legendary warriors are going to let Mercurymon do everything? Pfft! You just like to read my mind and guess ahead, doncha? Or in other words...you are so totally right. hehe. In answer to your question...not maybe. YES ALL OF THEM! And yeah, she is. lol. I hated Calmaramon. I had to come up with SOMETHING new and better! I just HAD to!_

_Anyway...  
_

_Enjoy! _

_-.-_

Digimon doesn't belong to me.

-.-

**Chapter Three**

-.-

"Please, have you any idea where I can find my Beast Spirit?" Ranamon asked yet another passerby. She was panting, having run all over, and was dying for something to drink. Perhaps she should call it a day and go home?

The digimon, a Palmon, stared at her like she was insane. "You mean you haven't found it yet?" the digimon asked. "Some Legendary Warrior YOU are!"

"Hey well I…" Ranamon clamped her lips shut, took a deep breath, and managed to keep from exploding. That wasn't going to help. "Listen…I need to find her. I…lost her…and if I don't find her…" she sighed." Please, have you heard anything? Any rumors? About a lousy Warrior who lost her Beast Spirit? Or where it might be?"

Palmon narrowed her eyes, staring at Ranamon with skepticism. Then she shrugged. "No, but I'll be sure to pass those rumors on." She snickered. "Maybe someone has heard of your lost Beast Spirit. God luck looking for it!"

Ranamon found herself saying "her" in correction, and then blinked. Now she was starting to sound like Mercurymon! She sighed, said "Thank you," and then ran off in another direction. At this rate, all she was going to do was generate bad rumors about herself! "I'm going to look stupid to everyone!" She pouted to herself, then stared at the ground guiltily. "But I guess I've already created that idea anyway."

She took a deep breath, then headed back home. It was a long ways away, but she was tired. She could search again tomorrow.

Two hours later, the sun had long since set, and she was nowhere nearer to the Legendary Warrior's Hideout than she was two hours ago. And her feet were killing her. "This is insane!" she complained, fighting tears of frustration. "Mercurymon can teleport to wherever he wants, but I can't!" She threw herself on the ground in a pout. "This is so stupid!"

She sat there a long time, the night deepening, until suddenly she jerked awake. She realized that she had been falling asleep. Dejectedly, she stood up and looked around, knowing that she could not just sleep in the open. But where could she find a place to sleep in the wilderness?

Her steps carried her in a wavy line toward where she could feel a small body of water was, and almost screamed in relief when she found herself standing in front of a small lake. She walked in, sank to the bottom, and laid herself down on the most mossy rock. Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

-.-

"Where's Ranamon? I didn't see her come in last night," Agunimon commented, coming into the room where they ate breakfast. Most of the others were already there, including, amazingly, Mercurymon. Usually he was off somewhere else. Agunimon grabbed himself a plate of breakfast, then seated himself at the stone table.

"I think she spent the night in her sector," Kazemon commented, frowning. "She's never done that before."

"Did you go talk to her like you said you were going to?" Agunimon persisted to the only girl digimon in the room. He shoveled food into his mouth like he'd never see it again—probably something he picked up from Takuya.

"No, I didn't. I didn't know what I was going to say. I mean, how do you tell someone that they have to learn all this stuff, when you don't even know how to teach them?"

"Maybe she thinks we're trying to kick her out, so she ran away," Lowemon suggested thoughtfully. "If that's the case, we have to talk to her immediately."

"Maybe she just wanted time away from all the rest of us," Arbormon supplied. "We all have our days."

Grumblemon kept quiet, staring at his food as if he was not hungry. Absently he glanced at Mercurymon, but then quickly looked away. With the glass covering Mercurymon's face, no one knew where his eyes were looking.

"I think one of us should go find her," Agunimon decided, now finished with his food.

"For goodness sake," Mercurymon suddenly declared, standing up from the table. "Do you all talk about _me_ like this when _I'm _not around?" He mumbled under his breath, then exited the room, his steps seeming more heavy than usual. Grumblemon pushed his plate away, then left after him.

The other legendary warriors glanced at each other, not sure what to say, then shrugged. "What's with him today?" Beetlemon asked. No one quite knew what to say in response, so they sat there silently for a while.

Suddenly, Arbormon stood up. "Mercurymon must have done something about Ranamon," he declared solemnly. "I think he might have already talked to her, perhaps sent her on some sort of quest."

"Why would Ranamon listen to him? Heck, no one else does," Agunimon frowned. "Besides, doesn't she hate him now?"

Arbormon seemed to frown, but since he was kind of a robot, no one could tell. "How can you say that, when you know so little about him? Did we ever really try to get to know each other? No, we just came together because we had to, each from our elements. Then we got the job done, and vanished into legend. Now we're back again, and we still know hardly anything about each other. So don't be so quick to say things like that." He turned and began walking out. "I'm going to go talk to him…find out exactly what he's done."

The other Warriors glanced at the doorway, then silently finished their food. No one had any good response.

-.-

Ranamon pulled herself off the mossy rock, reluctant to wake up, and forced herself to swim to the surface of the lake. She missed her own secret pond, where she usually slept. But, annoyingly, she was on a quest, and she had to find her beast spirit. Not only that, she had to learn how to be a leader, learn how to work, and learn how to deal with digimon without fighting. And all of that seemed so far out of reach.

"How can I ever do that?" she complained, pulling herself out of the water. "How does anyone learn?" She paused, raising an eyebrow. Yes indeed! How did anyone learn? They were taught, but they learned by doing. Right? She looked around. Perhaps if she found a village somewhere, she could observe how they work, and then offer to help for a while. Work in exchange for information? Or in exchange for teaching? That would accomplish two things at once! The only problem was that it would not help her find her Beast Spirit. "Or would it?" she asked herself.

Grinning, she began to walk, deciding to instantly put her new plan into action. Several hours later, she was not grinning. How was she supposed to find a village when she didn't even know how to look for one? Grumbling and complaining, she dragged her tired feet through the Island's forestry. Her stomach grumbled in complaint along with her.

"This is stupid," she moaned. "I'm hungry! I want to go home and sleep!" She leaned against a tree in despair. Tiredly, she closed her eyes.

_Every choice you make…every little action…will affect her…_

Ranamon's eyes snapped open, and she stood upright, startled. Was someone speaking to her? She swallowed and looked around, but couldn't see anyone. Was it Mercurymon? Or was her own mind reminding her of what he said?

Her Beast Spirit…she was going to change. Ranamon couldn't deny that Calmaramon was far from easy on the eyes, but still…if every little action was taken into consideration, then even her complaining was going to make her Beast Spirit more ugly. She shuddered at the thought.

"I can't even complain," she whined, then clamped her mouth shut. "Well, what _can_ I do, for God's sake?" She frowned, pursing her lips, and then jumped when her stomach growled loudly. "I guess I can find some food."

She continued walking, trying hard to stop complaining, but even her attempts to stop complaining were complaints. Absently, she thought about the digidestined, and how from the very first day, they had to do exactly what she was doing. The only difference was that they had no hope of finding food, or even a place to sleep. They couldn't go home. So they kept going.

"I don't know how they could do it," she moaned again, "when I can't even do it for a day!" She gripped her stomach. "And I am starved!"

Ranamon stiffened, a faint smell of food reaching her nose. Whatever it was, it smelled amazing. Suddenly re-energized by the smell of food, she ran as fast as she could toward the scent, her mouth already watering. To her utmost relief, she came upon a small Gatomon village, nested in the middle of the thickest part of the forest. A small river traveled on the outskirts, and several Gatomon were fishing from it. Hungrily, Ranamon ran into the center of the village.

Then the realization hit her: She didn't have any money.

"Maybe I can try out my new plan," she mumbled, walking up to the house where the lovely smell of food was coming from. Cautiously, she peeked inside. It looked like a restaurant, with a few tables and chairs, with a counter at one end. The kitchen was in the back. Ranamon stepped in and walked up to the wooden counter, tapping her fingers on the smooth surface. Her nervousness almost made her turn and bolt, but somehow she managed to stay there, gripping the counter with her hand.

A Gatomon walked up to the counter, smiling. "Hello, Legendary Warrior! You grace us with your presence! What would you like to buy?"

Ranamon offered a nervous grin. "Well….actually….I am starving but…" she swallowed, then mentally forced herself to continue. "But I don't have any money. I can't get home for a while, so I'm going to have to eat elsewhere. But…" she licked her lips, the smell of food still making her mouth water. Her stomach grumbled. "But if you let me work in exchange for some food, I'd be most grateful…." She grinned guiltily. "Please?"

The Gatomon stared at her, blinking, then a small grin spread across his face. "Haha! A Legendary Warrior, having to work for food. Never thought I'd see the day!" He grinned even wider. "I hear the human Legendary Warriors did the very same, and they never let anyone down. I suppose I can expect no less from you. What kind of work can you do?"

Ranamon felt her face fall. "Well, I really don't know….what kinds of work do you need?"

An amused look entered the cat's eyes. "Well, I need help in the kitchen, doing odd jobs. The village is still small, and though we get a lot of customers, there aren't very many digimon who stay here long enough for a job. Can you do the odd jobs?"

"Just as long as you can tell me what they are," Ranamon supplied hopefully. She didn't know if she could or not, but she would definitely try. She licked her lips again.

"Well then, it's a deal. You can sit and eat your meal. I can see you're practically dying of hunger," he paused as Ranamon's stomach growled loudly, "and then we can see about the work. Sit down."

Ranamon hastily complied, smiling gratefully. "Wow, thank you so much!" she felt like crying. Really, she expected him to cross-examine her, lecture her, then turn her away. But he had been more than kind, and she could hardly believe it. Someday, she decided, she hoped she could do the same for him.

Within moments, he came back with a plate of fish with some noodles and vegetables, a butter-cream sauce drizzled over all of it. He set it in front of her with a flourish, and then winked. "The least expensive on the menu, since it's what we have the most of, but as you're the first customer of the day, you get best catch!"

Ranamon's eyes did water at that point, and she managed to thank him politely before devouring the entire plate. It was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. She made sure to completely clean the plate, even the last remnants of sauce on the edges. Then she carried the plate and silverware back into the kitchen on her own, ready to work.

Gatomon turned and saw her in the doorway, then smiled widely. "Perfect timing," he said. "Just set it in the sink and start peeling potatoes." He pointed to the sink and then to a box of potatoes next to it. "The peeling knife is the one with the blue handle."

Ranamon's mouth opened slightly, then she clamped it shut. She stared at the sink, walked toward it, then put the plate in it. Slowly, she turned on the faucet, held the plate under it, and started rinsing. She had never rinsed dishes before, but she had rinsed things like shells. So it couldn't be much different, could it? She supposed not, and used the same method. The plate then rinsed, she glanced up and noticed the soap. Her mouth formed a small "o" as she took it, squirted a little on the plate, and re-rinsed it. Now clean, she glanced around and noticed the dish-drying rack, and put it on the rack a little sloppily.

"Thanks. The potatoes?" Gatomon prompted, his eyes twinkling.

Ranamon nodded, then grabbed a potato and inspected it. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how she was supposed to peel it. Then she remembered the knife, and grabbed the one with the blue handle. For another several minutes, she stared back and forth between the knife and the potato. Her mind said, "I'm done, time to leave." But she knew she couldn't just do that.

"Do you want me to show you?" Gatomon asked, a slight chuckle in his voice.

Ranamon blushed, stammered, and then didn't complain as he took both from her, showing her in slow, sure strokes how to peel it.

"See, hold the knife like this, and the potato like this, and scrape it across the surface. Don't go too fast, and don't peel too much. Okay?"

Ranamon nodded, barely managing to refrain from whining. Then she tried. She felt like she failed miserably, but all Gatomon did was reposition her hands and encourage her to keep going. Then he went back to cooking.

Ranamon's mind screamed and complained, and tears came to her eyes as she kept peeling potatoes wrong. Her hands were cramping after the first one, but still she tried to force herself to keep going. Finally, after her eighth potato, when she felt like screaming and throwing it across the room, Gatomon turned and spoke to her.

"I need firewood for the fire," he said matter-of-factly. "Outside is a wood pile. Would you bring in a couple armloads? You can put the wood in that box next to the stove." He pointed to the far corner, and then nodded his head toward a door. "Please hurry. You can go back to the potatoes later.

Ranamon's sigh was barely audible, but she nodded and hurried outside. For the first two minutes, all she did was clench her hands into fists and let tears of frustration stream down her cheeks. Then her determination came back. She grabbed two pieces of wood and walked back in, dumping them into the wood box.

"Please fill it all the way up?" Gatomon asked, not commenting on how small her arm load was. He was frying fish expertly, and it smelled heavenly. Ranamon suddenly realized she was hungry again, but tried not to think about it. Nodding, she went back outside to grab another two awkward pieces of wood.

How much longer? She held in a whimper, and kept bringing in wood until her hands were splintered and her arms sore. Finally, after the hundredth trip it seemed, the box was full, and she could go back to peeling potatoes.

"Oh joy," she whispered, fighting back the urge to scream. Then she picked up the knife and a potato, and with renewed determination, went at it furiously.

-.-

"Grumblemon, leave me alone. I don't need your _help_, thank you very much." Mercurymon kept walking further and further into his section of the Hideout, trying hard to retain his strong, upright pace. He felt exhausted though, and more and more he wanted to drag his feet, or even just fall down and never get up. But he couldn't, and he wouldn't. Still, if he had known that doing what had never been done before would tax this much on him, he might never have done it.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Grumblemon yelled, walking behind him furiously. "You exhausted, and me…" he stopped. "I mean…_I _can tell! You can't do this alone! You should never have done it to begin with!"

"Done what?" Arbormon asked, suddenly appearing in front of them both.

Mercurymon frowned, halting abruptly, then sighed and kept walking. "Nothing," he mumbled, lying.

"NO, NOT NOTHING!" Grumblemon growled and clenched a hand into a fist. "Mercurymon is doing something he shouldn't. But he can't undo it, so now he needs help. He just not want to admit it!"

"I see. I figured as much." Arbormon kept pace next to Grumblemon, the two of them walking closely behind Mercurymon as he walked to his room. "He does look tired. What did he do, exactly?"

"Please don't talk about me as if I were not right here," Mercurymon grumbled. He came to his room, the whole place a collage of crystals and mirrors, with a crystallized lake in the very center. The whole place was like being on the inside of a geode. It was beautiful. Slowly he took a deep breath, then remembered the other two were still there. "Look, can you leave now?"

"No." Grumblemon crossed his arms. "Admit it, you need help."

"And we're here to give it," Arbormon added. Apparently, while Mercurymon was momentarily zoning out, Grumblemon had let Arbormon into the secret. "Don't turn us down, when you know we're right," he insisted patiently.

"I will not admit anything, and you're wrong. You can go now." Mercurymon turned and began to walk toward the large crystal that he slept on. He did not get two paces before something grabbed his right arm-mirror from behind and pulled him over. He fell backwards onto his back, and then lay there stunned. He had completely not expected it, nor could he have had the strength to resist, when normally such a pull would not have even made him blink.

Grumblemon leaned over his face, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" the stone digimon asked, an amused tone in his voice. "You so tired you can't get up."

Mercurymon sighed, but didn't argue. No…he couldn't get up….not just yet. He closed his eyes, knowing that no one could tell that his eyes were closed anyway with the glass over his face.

"Will you let us help, Mercurymon?" Arbormon persisted. "Please? She's our friend too. The four of us have our own special bond, even if we don't want to remember why we do. The other six have a bond through the humans, and we have one because we didn't. We need to stick together, and you can't do this alone anyway."

"Yeah. You should know that fueling Ranamon's Beast Spirit-change with your own data is like a death wish!" Grumblemon frowned. "With our help, it will tax all of us, and the burden will be spread out."

Mercurymon tried to ignore them, but he knew they were right. Slowly, he sighed, opening his eyes again. He frowned, but said nothing, even though they stared at him expectantly.

The water from the lake rippled, splashing against the crystals. _They are right, _Lady Marlinmon's thoughts came to him. _Accept their help, or this will all fail. _

"Well?" Grumblemon prompted.

Mercurymon took a breath, then lifted his right hand in a fist. A faint smile of defeat crossed his face as he did so. Grumblemon grinned, then slapped a hand down over Mercurymon's fist.

"For Ranamon," Mercurymon reminded them.

"For you," Grumblemon added with a smirk in his eyes.

"For friendship," Arbormon ended, placing his hand over Grumblemon's.

A bright light filled the crystal chamber, and the three of them could feel another hand on top of theirs. They looked up, startled, and the figure of a beautiful mermaid-like water-digimon with fin-like wings and long blue hair smiled down at them, her image like that of a hologram, or a dream. Her eyes sparkled, and tears fell from them down her cheeks. The light grew brighter, so bright that they had to close their eyes. Then, abruptly, it was gone.

Mercurymon blinked, looking around. Only Grumblemon and Arbormon were still there, their hands still connected. But he felt different…like the drain on his energy was much less. But he also felt like he had made a connection. He could not only feel his energy, but the energy of Grumblemon, Arbormon, and….somehow….Ranamon. He stood up, a stunned expression on his face.

"I feel it too," Grumblemon said, a strange sound in his voice. "But…" he made a quizzical expression, cocking his head. "But something like this has never been done before. This kind of bond only happens between a Digimon and his Partner!" The awe in his voice was unanimously felt by the others in the room as well.

Mercurymon raised an eyebrow, turning to stare at the other two. "Well then," he said slowly, "that may be what we are. We are partners…Legendary Warriors with a different kind of bond. We fuel each other. Probably it's the same kind of bond we have with our Beast Spirits."

"But what about the Celestial Digimon? What will they say?" Arbormon frowned. "They might be upset."

"What can they do?" Mercurymon smiled, his energy now returned. "We are doing this for friendship."

"It can be terrible if we turn evil again," Arbormon reminded him solemnly.

"But we wont." Grumblemon's words were final, a slight tremble hidden behind them. All three of them felt the fear that he felt at being evil, and silently, they all agreed. Never again would they turn evil. Never.

"Now," Mercurymon declared, taking a deep breath, "we need to figure out how Ranamon is doing."

Grumblemon grinned. "I think we already know."

The three stared at each other, then grins simultaneously spread across their faces. Yes, they knew. And somehow, it was slightly amusing.

But it was also encouraging. Because Ranamon had already changed, and was changing still—for the better. The time would soon come…the training would be over sooner than it began.

But until then, they had to be careful. Just how much of their friendship bond had passed onto the Legendary Warrior of Water?

-.-

_...And that's all for now._

_Did anything confuse you? Annoy you? Or just seem like it wasn't quite right? How am I to know what you thought unless you TELL ME? (yeah, all you people out there who read this and are tempted NOT to review cause I want you to, lol, you're almost as much of a dork as I am. take that!) _

_Anyway...Thanks for reading! You rock!  
_

_-rika195 _


	4. Lesson One:

**..:Ranamon:..**

-.-

_Thanks so much to my AWESOME and BRAVE reviewers, **Rubberman2025, **_**onetooth79,** _**Crazyeight, black peeches, **and **Tristar** for being the only ones to actually tell me what they think! This chapter is dedicated to you! You rock!  
_

_And in answer to your reviews..._

_**Rubberman2025:** Thank you! and thanks again for the review!_

_**onetooth79: **Hey thanks for the review! And yes, I enjoy writing about them, so I'm glad you like this story. Enjoy!  
_

_**Crazyeight:** Once again, your review wins a gold star for actual helpful points! I know, I love writing about the "dark warriors", but my intent with this story is to make them ALL awesome! I hope it works! _

_**black peeches: **hehehe, maybe...yeah probably. I do enjoy the pairing. Anyway, Kazemon will become cool again, you'll see. At least I hope so! Love ya!_

_**Tristar: **Yeah, I know, I like that they are working together now. It makes me happy! And I'm glad someone else can see my point of view. Yeah, OCs are annoying, but Calmaramon is WORSE! hehe. And don't worry, Lobomon gets his own awesome spotlight soon enough. Yep. Thanks for the suggestions and the review! _

_Anyway...  
_

_Enjoy! _

_-.-_

All your Digimon are belong to me.

Nah, just kidding.

-.-

**Chapter Four  
**

-.-

Ranamon dropped her potato, overcome with the strangest sensation. It was like a rippling energy wave, like the wave of an ocean, was washing over her and enveloping her, but it was much more powerful, and completely unseen. She was stunned, unable to move or breathe. And for a brief moment, she felt connected to her friends…to Mercurymon….and then….

It passed like it had never been there. She shivered uncontrollably, not even sure what she was supposed to think or do. What did it mean? Was there a change happening to her Beast Spirit? Was that why she felt such a strong connection to Mercurymon? If so…then why did she feel the same connection to Arbormon and Grumblemon too?

"Ranamon?"

Ranamon snapped back to reality and whirled around to stare at the Gatomon Chef. "Yes?" she squeaked, sweating with embarrassment.

He gave her a slightly worried look. "Are you alight?"

"Absolutely," she gave him an energetic thumbs up, although she wasn't even sure herself. "Sorry, I just zoned out for a moment."

"Well…" he frowned, then shrugged it off. "You dropped your potato. Rinse it off and keep peeling."

Ranamon sighed, then looked down at the floor where the half-peeled half-butchered potato lay, and bent over to pick it up. She couldn't help glaring at it miserably. It was the tenth potato she peeled! And her hands ached! "How many more do I have to do?" she asked in a small voice.

The Gatomon chuckled. "I need at least 100 peeled. Night is when the fishers come back with their catches, and they're always very hungry!" He was seasoning a wonderful-smelling pan of frying scallops. "Tonight is Clam Chowder and Halibut night, so I'm going to need lots and lots of potatoes!"

Ranamon sighed miserably. "Okay…" she mumbled, and half-heartedly went back to work. "I'm sorry I'm so slow….I've never peeled potatoes before…."

"That's alright. I normally do everything myself, so it's nice to have some help for a change." Gatomon smiled to himself, and watched Ranamon out of the corner of his eyes thoughtfully. "I have someone to talk to, and that always makes the job so much more enjoyable!"

Ranamon sighed. "I guess so."

There was a short period of time where the two just concentrated on their work, and Ranamon slowly began to feel a little better about peeling. Despite how sore her pretty hands were getting, each potato was better than the last one. It was strangely refreshing. After two more potatoes were peeled and rinsed, she found herself growing curious about the Gatomon that was letting her work.

"Excuse me?" she asked as politely as she could, while still trying to keep peeling.

"Hmmm?" Gatomon murmured. He was staring intently into a large pot on the stove, where he was caramelizing onions for the Clam Chowder base.

Ranamon tried to figure out the best way to phrase her questions. "You work really well," she said, thinking about what she'd observed. "Everything you do is really good, and really efficient. And it's easy for me to work with you despite my lack of ability." She gave a sheepish glance at her now 13 peeled potatoes in the basket beside her. "How do you do it? How did you get so good?"

The Gatomon sighed and stirred a bit of garlic into the onions. "Well," he said slowly, "it takes practice, it takes skill, but most of all, it takes kindness."

"Kindness?" Ranamon frowned. "How does that help you work?"

"It's a beautiful virtue, kindness," Gatomon smiled at her over his shoulder. "If you have a kind attitude, it makes work easier. You don't get angry when you mess up; You are able to keep going because you know that the people and tools you work with are valuable; You can work with other digimon easier, without getting in fights. There are many things that kindness influences. It's the greatest lesson a mon can learn, I think."

Ranamon drank in the words like they were fresh water to a dehydrated water digimon in a desert. "Really?" she murmured. "So kindness is the answer to having trouble working?"

"One of them," Gatomon shrugged. "Let me make it easier to understand." He paused in his speech, as he was concentrating on cooking, but after a moment he continued gently. "Let's say that you are given the task of picking up pieces of straw for your job, and that is all you do for a living. But you don't do it alone. You work with other digimon who are doing the same thing. You gather straw all day in the fields, and then at the end of the day, you turn your bag into the headmaster. He pays you based on how many pounds of straw you picked up."

Ranamon thought that through for a moment, and then decided she could picture that situation well enough. She could also picture with quite ease that she would NEVER want to do something like that for a living.

"Everyday you work in the fields, picking up straw," Gatomon continued. "But every day, you notice that the other digimon are picking up straw too, and like you, they want to get as much as they can so that they can get paid more. It can turn into a giant race or competition, and if you let it, it can make you bitter against all the other digimon. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ranamon nodded, and vaguely remembered she needed to keep peeling. She placed her 14th potato in the basket. "I guess I would want them to go work somewhere else," she said in answer. "It's annoying, and I'll bet they steal the straw I was going to pick up. I'd hate working in that situation!"

Gatomon smiled faintly, his eyes twinkling. "Yes I know," he stated simply. "But just imagine…..what would that work situation look like if you decided to treat everything with kindness instead of bitterness and competition? How would it be different?"

Ranamon waited for him to continue, then suddenly realized he wanted her to answer him. "Oh! Um….I don't know…" she bit her lip and frowned, trying to think. "I guess it would be…..easier?"

"How so?"

"I don't know…" Ranamon trailed off, waiting for him to tell her the rest of his little story.

For a long moment, there was silence, as the Gatomon continued cooking. Finally, he finished adding what he wanted to the onions, and turned to look at her. "Well," he said decisively, "think about it. In fact, take the rest of the day to think about it." He smiled at her stunned expression, but his expression said that his decision was final. "You've done a lot of work today, and now I want you to go and think about those questions. If you can't come up with a good enough answer, then you can't come back to work here."

Ranamon's mouth opened in a small "o" shape, and she stared at him in shock. He was kicking her out? Because she couldn't answer his question? But…that wasn't kind…. Dejectedly, she nodded and walked out the door, feeling sullen and defeated. Maybe she wasn't learning anything after all.

Her stomach growled, and she let out a mournful sigh. What was she going to do now?

"Oh….and Ranamon?"

She turned back to look at the Gatomon Chef, and was slightly encouraged and bewildered by his kind, compassionate expression. "I haven't paid you for the second half of your work yet. Come in and eat dinner here tonight, alright? You'll think better on a full stomach."

"Oh, thank you!" Ranamon exclaimed, running back and grasping him in a tight hug. She released him quickly though, since he was still cooking. "You're the best!"

He just smiled. "Go sit down," he ordered. "Like I said, it's Clam Chowder and Halibut night tonight. So while I'm cooking, you can think about my questions."

Ranamon nodded, her spirits falling slightly. Ah yes…his questions. Frankly, she couldn't even remember what they were. She turned and went out to the Restaurant section, finding a secluded table and sliding into the chair.

It had been a trying and long day, and she felt a mix between satisfaction and depression about everything that had taken place. Now she just felt sadness. "I wont be coming back to work here," she thought miserably. "I'll never figure out how to answer those questions."

But she tried her best to remember what they were. At least she knew they had something to do with kindness, and gathering straw. She could figure it out from there, right?

-.-

Grumblemon sighed, pausing in his hammering to wipe his forehead with his arm. He'd been working all day, hammering giant bolts back into the Trailmon track Bridges that his group was currently rebuilding. It was hard work, but he was strong, and he loved swinging his hammer. Normally he could work for hours without tiring, stopping only to eat, direct other digimon, or help someone out when they couldn't do something.

But not today. Today he felt exhausted and sore, like he was constantly being drained. It wasn't painful, but the leeching was steadily making it impossible for him to keep going. He dropped his hammer in defeat.

"This is too hard…." He moaned. "Mercurymon…..you a fool! Me can't keep working like this…."

Someone cleared their throat, causing him to jump in surprise and turn to see who it was. Of course, it was another Legendary Warrior. This time, it was Lowemon.

"What you want?" Grumblemon snapped. "Can't you see me….er….Can't you see I'm busy?"

Lowemon glanced at the bridge that was steadily being constructed, and nodded in satisfaction. "Fine work," he praised. "There hasn't been sturdy bridges like this in the history of the Digital World. They wont go down easy."

Grumblemon felt a swell of pride and relief, and some of his energy returned to him from the encouragement. "Well….they are good," he stated. "Now what did you say you wanted?"

"Oh right." Lowemon cleared his throat again. "I wanted to ask you about Ranamon."

Grumblemon sighed in exasperation. "What?" he demanded, swinging his hammer again.

"You and Arbormon said earlier that Mercurymon went to talk to her. The rest of us are wondering what happened. Where is she? What is she doing? Should we be worried about her?" He frowned and studied Grumblemon carefully. "Should we be worried about YOU?"

Grumblemon sighed. "No," he assured. But he paused in his hammering to rest. "But you should know what going on here."

Lowemon waited paitently.

"Mercurymon talked with Ranamon, and was able to tell her that she didn't fit the newjob description. But he also told her that it didn't mean she had to leave. He told her she had to learn how to do the things expected of her, just like the rest of us had to learn some time in our life." Grumblemon thought through his words carefully, trying to figure out how to best say it without saying too much. "He sent her on a quest, kind of like the ones the digidestined went through. He separated her from her beast spirit and hid it, and she's going on a quest to find it. She's supposed to learn how to do work, and how to work with others." He shrugged. "I don't know how well it's going to work, but Mercurymon is sure it will."

"You must be pretty sure too," Lowemon hinted, frowning. "There's something more going on here than you're telling me."

"Yeah well….It's not my place to tell," Grumblemon mumbled. "Look, me sorry but me have work, and me tired."

"You're switching back to….."

"I'M tired," Grumblemon snapped. "And _**I **_can talk however _**me**_want!" he rolled his eyes. "Anything else?"

Lowemon paused, pondering, but shook his head. "Thank you," he said instead. "For telling me." He bowed his head, then turned and left. "I have to get back to my sector."

Grumblemon nodded, going back to hammering the large bolts into place. But he couldn't help wondering….how long before they had to tell everyone what was happening? How long could they keep it a secret? Should they tell everyone now? "Whatever happens," he sighed, "it's Mercurymon's decision. It always has been."

He kept working, trying to ignore the drain on his energy. Man….Ranamon must be changing already! Either that….or she always had a pure heart hiding inside.

-.-

_Mercurymon…you're supposed to be working, remember? This isn't the time to take a nap. Mercurymon? Can you hear me? What's wrong with you? Come on, ignoring me is not cool, it's just dumb. Mercurymon? MERCUYRMON!_

_What's going on over here?_

_Agunimon, something is wrong with Mercurymon! He isn't listening to me!_

_Kazemon, he usually doesn't listen to you when you complain. The guy's either tired or thinking, and he's ignoring you on purpose._

_Do you KNOW that for sure? Honestly…we can't even see his eyes! How do we know he's not unconscious? Look at him! He's leaning against that wall like he's a machine that shut down! And I don't think he can hear me screaming his name!_

_Yes…thank you. But the rest of the world can…_

_Stop it._

_What? I'm just stating the truth!_

_Rrrrrr! Listen, fat-head, Mercurymon is not normal. I think something is wrong. Do you know what he did when he spoke to Ranamon? Why were Grumblemon and Arbormon so upset? How does this all tie together?_

_I…_

_Don't know? Yeah. Take that, Mr. Know-It-All. We DON'T know what's really going on here._

_Well…call Ophanimon. I don't know what to do. And get Grumblemon to wake him up. Grumblemon's good at that._

_Fine…_

…and completely unable to respond, Mercurymon just continued to listen to the vague voices around him. _This isn't good, _he thought tiredly. _I can't move…speak…or even think very well. Maybe this was a bad idea. _

_You think! _His Beast Spirit's voice practically screamed in his mind. _I'm going to kill you! You should have asked me first before placing your entire EXISTENCE on the line! Ranamon's a vain fool and an idiot! You should never have done this! _

_There has to be some way for me to be able to do this! _Mercurymon insisted in his mind, weakly. _Some way that I can function without cost to my energy so much! But…what? I know if I could think coherently, I'd be able to come up with something…_

_Then allow me to think FOR you, _Sephirotmon lectured. Ever since Mercurymon had been cleansed from being evil, Sakkakumon went back to being called Sephirotmon, named after the attributes of God. He still stayed separate from Mercurymon, like he used to, meaning they could not slide evolve back and forth, but they still had a connection.

Mercurymon was helpless to argue. In fact, he was losing the ability to think at all.

_There is only one way for you to continue being a Legendary Warrior, and still use your data to fuel Ranamon's Beast Spirit change. Just one way._Sephirotmon hesitated. _You must de-digivolve one stage, and send the data from your higher stage to the transformation. Only then will the drain be taken off you. _

_De-digivolve?_Mercurymon thought, unable to remember what it felt like to be even one stage lower. _You mean like a rookie? _

_What! No! Your Mega form, idiot! _

Mercurymon still felt confused. Slowly, even his semi-conscious-sleep was being taken from him.

_Mercurymon…when you became a Legendary Warrior all those years ago, you advanced to a stage higher than a Mega form. There was no name for the form, and so you and the others were simply called Legendary Warriors. It was legendary for you to advance so far. But you DO have a Mega form…one you haven't been since before your current status. Perhaps even you can't remember what it was like. _

_What did I look like? _Mercurymon asked vaguely.

_Like a humanoid Knight of Steel, the colors of green and silver, lined with a dull red. You have a large mirror shield on one arm, and a large sword as your other hand—which you can retract, changing for a normal hand, if you want._

_That sounds a little like Duskmon's sword. Hmmm…well…It doesn't sound so bad…I'm still strong, right? _

_You wouldn't be a Legendary Warrior if you weren't. But Mercurymon…you must understand. Reverting to your Mega stage means losing the form you have right now forever. You can never go back. _

_Never…_Mercurymon tried to get his mind around the idea….tried to figure out what it all meant before he lost consciousness for good. _Does that mean I can't be a Legendary Warrior…and have a beast spirit?_

_No, it means you can't have this higher stage anymore. You'll still have me, and the Legendary Warrior status._

_Then…I see no other choice, _Mercurymon sighed. _Do it. _

Sephirtomon sighed heavily, and surrounded Mercurymon with a sphere of data. _You'll miss this, I think. You wont have the ability to turn into a Spirit anymore. But you'll have all the stages of a normal digimon again…_

Mercurymon momentarily lost consciousness as the change took place, but instantly after it was over, he felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. He gasped, and lifted his head to look around him in vague confusion. It was done.

_Besides, _he heard Sephirotmon chuckle in his mind. _I always thought you looked more handsome like this._

Mercurymon glanced down. He stared at his metal boots and frame, admiring the sleek, sci-fi/Knight design,and then looked at himself in his shield-mirror. He smiled, a real mouth smiling back at him under a helmet that covered his eyes…a little like Angemon's helmet. "Yes," he said softly, "I do look much better. I had forgotten…." He sighed. He felt different….a little more normal…and yet….so strange. He could revert to any stage he wanted now…simply because he felt like it…and then evolve back. It was weird. And his attacks…they were different from his higher stage, though very similar.

He suddenly realized something very important…something he should have asked before. "Sephirotmon," he said urgently. "What's my name?"

Sephirotmon chuckled in reply. _"Mercurymon," _he said.

And Mercurymon sighed in great relief. At least he didn't have to get used to a name change!

-.-

_...And that's all for now. Hope it wasn't too strange._

_Did anything confuse you? Annoy you? Or just seem like it wasn't quite right? How am I to know what you thought unless you TELL ME? (yeah, all you people out there who read this and are tempted NOT to review cause I want you to, lol, you're almost as much of a dork as I am. take that!) _

_Anyway...Thanks for reading! You rock!  
_

_-rika195 _


	5. Kindness

**..:Ranamon:..**

-.-

Thanks so much to these reviewers:

**Tristar**: Man, you are so right about Lowemon! He is the bridge between the digidestined warriors, and the four others. It's a very good observation you made there. Thanks! Oh...Wait...I couldn't find any pictures of Mikosakuyamon! Where'd you hear about it? lol...good observations there. It's like you can read my mind. Thanks for the review!

**Crazyeight**: Wow, thanks so much for all the helpful comments and great observations! It's really nice to know that someone can see what I'm trying to do with this story. It's encouraging. Thanks again!

**onetooth79**: Thanks! That was one of my favorite parts too. It was fun to make her feel that connection and sit there wondering about it. She has no idea! haha! It's great fun.

**Booklover13**: I know, there aren't! But I love them a lot, so you might see more stories about them from me, lol. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the review!

**Rubberman2025**: Thank you!

**KingWaspinator**: Lol...married couple. That's funny! I like writing interactions between them cause they SO act like that! And I like to get better and writing those kinds of things, so it's good practice. Anyway, thanks for the review! Glad to have you reading my story, heh.

**Zaerith-Chan: **If you have similar ideas, you should write them too and let me know! I'd read em! Anyway, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It's very encouraging!

Hope to see you all back this chapter too! And a few others, perhaps?

-.-

Digimon doesn't belong to me.

-.-

**Chapter 5**

-.-

Arbormon could barely speak. He just stared, wondering if the figure in front of him would vanish away, or if he was truly seeing what he was seeing. Could it be? Mercurymon? He staggered forward, trying hard to keep himself steady on his feet. There was only one way to find out.

"You call Sakkakumon 'Sephirotmon'?" Arbormon asked quietly, too weak to make his voice any louder. "I haven't heard that name in longer than I can remember." He sighed.

Mercurymon…or the Knight of Steel that used to be Mercurymon, turned his head to glance in Arbormon's direction. "I like that name better," he stated simply. His voice was still his…although lower, for some reason. And less annoying. He glanced down at himself, smirked, and looked back up. "I see you noticed," he stated.

Arbormon would have given him an incredulous stare. But he just had a robot face. Mercurymon wouldn't have been able to tell. "WHAT happened?" he demanded instead.

"I couldn't take the strain," Mercurymon replied simply, sniffing and clearing his throat. "Now it isn't straining me at all. I just reverted back to Mega, that's all…"

"That's ALL! That's like…..you're not a Legendary Warrior anymore!" Arbormon couldn't believe his ears nor his eyes. "Mercurymon, how could you DO something like that?"

He sighed, experimentally equipping and putting away his large sword. "Why?" he asked thoughtfully. "Because I wanted to stay alive."

"You're stupid, Mercurymon. STUPID!" Arbormon shook his head in disbelief. "You should never have done this to begin with!"

"Well I did it. It's done." He turned and gave Arbormon a wry smile. "I tried to tell you that you shouldn't try to help me, Arbormon. But you convinced me to accept your help, like the true friend you are. In the end…it wasn't enough."

"What are you saying? Are you saying that the same thing is going to happen to….." Arbormon's voice trailed off, as a sudden wave of weakness nearly made him keel over. "...me?"

Mercurymon walked over and placed a hand on the robot's shoulder. "It's not so bad, really," he said softly. "We get to look like our true selves too, in a way. I hope you'll forgive me….I guess I just didn't see it coming. Although….I should have….."

Arbormon couldn't respond. He was too tired, and he felt a tremendous drain on him like never before. Vaguely he wondered what Ranamon could possibly be doing to change so much. Was this even legal? But his mind couldn't even process that.

_I guess I'll have to help you like Sephirotmon helped me. You probably can't even think now, and can only hear my voice. But that's alright…it'll all be over in a second. _

_Besides…_

…_I always liked your tree-ish form better than this metal robot. Somehow, metal and wood just don't seem to mix._

Arbormon could just hear Mercurymon's signature chuckle…as an incredible burden vanished off of him like unseen smoke…

-.-

Ranamon stole a final glance back at the Gatomon village, shedding tears of sadness and self-pity…angry at herself for not being smart enough to answer the questions she couldn't even remember. And she was too scared to ask Gatomon again. So she left, stealing off into the night, leaving the place she already felt connected to.

She felt heavy-hearted, as though she was being burdened by many different things. And yet she didn't know what they all were for sure! The only thing she did know was that the feelings of heaviness would come and go, at strangely different intervals. Her only assumption was a simple one. "I'm just a mess," she mumbled pitifully, letting her senses lead her through the night to the lake she'd spent the night in the day before.

Wearily, she pushed aside branches and ferns and random vines and what not, wondering again WHY she'd been give the worst sector ever to work on. Seriously…a RAINFOREST? There simply was no other kind of terrain as hazardous! Marshes, vines that practically attacked you as you walked by, and too many bugs.

"Who's idea was it to give me this sector anyway?" Ranamon complained, huffing and shoving vines away. "Probably someone stupid like Agunimon or someone mean like Kazemon. Sheesh…." She shoved aside the vines again….realizing that they only seemed to get more and more tangled up around her. "What is wrong with this? Seriously!"

The vines just fell in more chaos around her, until it was all she could take not to scream out in rage.

Never mind. She screamed out in rage.

And yet, they were still tangled up around her. In fact, it almost seemed like they were coiling around her, tying her tight…until she couldn't even move her arms or legs anymore. Tighter, tighter, until one of them covered her eyes.

And then it all went black.

-.-

A hazy reality like an unfocused camera lens came into view, slowly clearing up until Ranamon found herself staring upwards at a dark night sky. She blinked, confused, wondering where she was and what was happening. She couldn't understand what just happened. Deciding that the only way to find out was to get up and look around, she made as if to do just that…

…and found herself bound tightly where she was, unable to move. "What's going on here?" she squeaked, panicking. "Why can't I move? Hello? Somebody? What is the big idea here!"

A proud, sinister laugh echoed around her from somewhere close by. "Welcome, worthless warrior of water. So nice of you to drop by."

Ranamon struggled in vain to get out, furious. "What do you mean, worth…." Her voice trailed off miserably. "Never mind," she whispered. "I guess I am worthless."

"That's right," the sneering voice mocked. "You are. You're just a useless warrior only good for looking at. When it comes down to it, even the lowest of the low are better than you! Who's sick, cruel idea was it to give YOU our sector, huh? That was a very good question."

Ranamon tried to ignore how miserably helpless she felt…tried to ignore his words…or at least to try to defend herself…but she couldn't. He was echoing exactly what she felt was true. This quest wasn't helping…it was making things worse.

"Why don't you just die and be done with it, eh? We certainly don't need your help around here…you just make us all angry." Whoever was speaking walked over, peering down at her with a cruel smirk on his face. He was an unfamiliar digimon, one of the rarer types who spent most of their time hiding from everyone else. And he had tied Ranamon up in the tropical rainforest vines, leaving her unable to do anything but stare up at him.

"What are you going to do?" Ranamon asked bitterly. "Kill me?"

"I'd certainly enjoy it," the digimon chuckled. "You know I used to adore you over all the other warriors. I would have done anything you asked. But then you turned out to be such a vain, worthless brat. You can't do anything, and so you just let everyone else do it for you. You're pathetic! I don't know how I could have ever thought you worth caring about!"

"I never learned how to work," Ranamon complained self-righteously. "I didn't know any better!"

"Oh don't give me that!" the digimon spat. "Maybe you were never taught to work. But you never did anything about it, did you? You never tried! You never cared. It was easier to just let everything happen, wasn't it? And when you had a chance to be anything you wanted with the legendary warriors, you didn't change! You just kept on doing whatever you wanted, getting away with it cause you're cute. So don't you try to defend your ignorance!"

Ranamon was stung by his words, unable to say anything in her defense. He was right. Maybe she never learned….but she still didn't do the right thing. She never did…because she was selfish. She liked the life of luxury. It was easy. She closed her eyes, tears streaming out of the sides of her eyes into her ears. "You're right," she whispered. "I didn't. I should have, but I didn't. And now I am reaping the consequences."

"Exactly," the digimon snapped. For some reason, he didn't seem pleased by her words. If anything, it seemed to upset him more, like he didn't want her to care. "And nothing you say is going to stop me from enjoying destroying you, you pretty, empty, piece of trash!"

Ranamon just laid there, thinking about and regretting her life. Didn't it mean anything that she regretted it? Didn't it mean anything that she wanted to change? Couldn't she have a second chance?

Her heart suddenly seemed to stop beating…and her eyes snapped open in surprise and realization. She WAS getting a second chance. This WAS her second chance! She couldn't let it all be for nothing! If she died…

"WAIT!" She screamed, urgency and horror in her voice. She lifted up her eyes to the digimon above her pleadingly, her expression so powerful it caused him to pause before attacking. "I can't…I can't let you kill me. Because if you do, you will kill other innocent lives as well!"

"What are you talking about? Do I look like I care?" the digimon snapped. "I hate your pretty little guts! Nothing you say is going to change my mind!"

"Then you're just as bad as I am!" she scolded, fire in her eyes. She felt a passionate strength of determination fill her up with energy. "I am on a mission right now…a quest that the digidestined went on when they saved this world! You were right that I am a worthless, useless warrior who doesn't know how to do anything. I was ignorant, and I used that as an excuse. But that is why I must finish this quest. I need to change! I need to become a different digimon….I need to learn to do what I must despite what I think, and that includes making sure that you do not kill digimon who do not deserve to die!"

"What other digimon are you talking about? It's just you and me, sister!" he snarled at her with his large fangs. He looked like a Centaurmon, only more rainforest-like, with sharp teeth. The combination was very disturbing.

"No it isn't," Ranamon insisted. "There are other digimon connected to me….Mercurymon is one of them. If I die, he dies to. It is by his doing that I am on this quest….and I have to finish it…I have to change, if I want him to survive. And if you don't care about that, then you're just as bad as I was." She glared at him with her powerfully fiery glare like she could stare him into submission.

He just glared right on back, unable to say anything.

But something seeming to click in Ranamon's mind…something her heart had been pondering without her knowing it, and she felt compelled to speak. "Someone asked me once," she said seriously, "about living and working with other digimon. They asked me how it would be different if I treated everyone with kindness instead of bitterness. I didn't know how to answer them. But I think I understand now. I understand that I was wrong, but that in order for me to change, I must be kind and do my best to right what I have never done all my life. Part of that is not letting you kill my friends by killing me. And so I ask you…..is what you're doing any better than the things you want to kill me for?"

He trembled slightly with held-in energy just waiting to be blasted in her face, a furious expression on his face. "Don't turn this around and make me look like the bad guy," he snarled finally.

Ranamon just frowned determinedly. "I'm not a bad guy either," she stated quietly. "I'm a Legendary Warrior, who has acted like a child her whole life. And now I'm growing up. Is that really a reason to kill me? Because I'm pretty and worthless?"

"Stop twisting this!"

"I'm not twisting anything. This is how it is. If you can't accept that, kill me. But know that you'll be killing at least two other innocent, GOOD digimon at the same time."

The rainforest digimon let out a furious yell, and then everything went black.

-.-

Grumblemon fainted. He'd never admit it to anyone, nor would he want anyone to know about it. But the fact was, he fainted in front of everyone, and he was unable to do anything about it.

When he woke up, it was not on the ground beneath the bridge in his sector where he fainted. It was in Mercurymon's crystal cavern, where he was laying on the metal digimon's crystal mirror bed. He blinked, staring up at the roof with a sense of shock and horror. Above him, thousands of knife-like crystal icicles hung threatening over the entire room. He felt that if he even took a breath, they would fall down and impale him to the bed in a second. "How can you sleep like this!" he squeaked, staring upwards with wide eyes. "You're crazy!"

He heard Mercurymon chuckle. "I like danger," he replied from somewhere nearby. "And it gives me a certain thrill. Don't worry, they wont fall on you."

Grumblemon forced his eyes away and sat up, looking around him with a scowl. "What am I doing here?" he demanded. "What happened? Why did I…." his voice trailed off to an uncomfortable silence. He didn't want to say anything related to "passing out". It seemed too weak.

"Our friend Ranamon is a very determined little girl," Mercurymon stated. He had adopted that pleased, amused, I'm-on-top-of-the-whole-situation-and-I'm-enjoying-it kind of voice, the one that used to scare and/or annoy anyone who heard it. "She doesn't want to give up on her quest until she knows she can do everything and anything thrown at her. It's very admirable, and very amusing at the same time."

"How so?" Grumblemon demanded. What did Mercurymon know?

"The quest was simply for her to find her Beast Spirit," he answered, chuckling and staring into his mirror with a smile. "And that the journey she took would determine how her Beast Spirit looks. But she has taken it to a whole new level."

"Meaning what?" Grumblemon still wasn't catching on.

"She is determined to first learn how to do everything she never knew how to do before. She wants to understand work…she wants to know how to work with digimon...she wants to be an embodiment of the 9 virtues." He shook his head in amusement. "And she has completely forgotten that all she has to do is _look _around for her Beast Spirit."

"So she's taking this further than she's supposed? And it's draining us more than we meant it to?" Grumblemon groaned loudly. "Stupid Ranamon! She's either the laziest, vainest thing in the world, or the biggest perfectionist in the world!"

"She's always been a perfectionist."

"Not as bad as you!" Grumblemon pointed at him accusingly. Suddenly, he froze, sucking in his breath and staring with wide eyes. "Mercurymon…." He whispered. "What…happened to you?"

Mercurymon's smirk only widened, but he looked downward awkwardly. "I…couldn't take the strain. I had to give up my highest stage and go back to Mega. So did Arbormon. And…." He trailed off.

Grumblemon gaped in shock. "And what?" he insisted. "AND WHAT? And ME?" he jumped off of Mercurymon's freaky bed and glanced down at himself. He nearly died when he saw what he saw.

It was his mega form….the Knight of Stone form human form…..the old Grumblemon. He trembled uncontrollably, like he was going to faint again. But he wouldn't….

"I'm sorry, Grumblemon," Mercurymon said quietly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Grumblemon was silent for a long time. Finally, he lifted his head and stared back at Mercurymon with fiery determination. "Are you KIDDING ME?" he yelled. "This was my FAVORITE form I ever HAD! I hated turning into that gnome-legendary-warrior stage! I got used to it, but it wasn't COOL like THIS!" He grinned and ran over to a crystal mirror in Mercurymon's room to admire himself. "Me likey!"

Mercurymon was stunned for a moment, before grinning. "Well I confess, I like this stage better myself…It's just less powerful."

"No it isn't," Grumblemon snapped back, flexing his muscles and grinning. "It's just different. Our higher stage allowed us to turn into spirits when we died, and allowed us to slide back and forth with our Beast Spirits. The attacks were different, but not better. The only thing I'll miss is sliding. This is by far, an improvement!"

"Well, you are easier on the eyes…." Mercurymon teased.

"Why do you think I got chosen to be a Legendary Warrior?" Grumblemon snorted and rolled his eyes. He turned back to smirk at the Knight of Steel. "Because I was the strongest, handsomest stone digimon in the world! That's why!"

"Hard to believe you got such an ugly Warrior form."

"Yeah, same to you, Court Jester," Grumblemon sneered.

They glared at each other, smirked at each other, and then finally Mercurymon sighed and walked over. "Now that we've got that settled," he stated dismissively, "let's focus on what we're going to tell everyone else…."

Grumblemon's face fell. "Oh yeah," he whispered. "I keep forgetting its all ten of us again…"

"And the celestial digimon…."

"Yeah…them too." Grumblemon wiped sweat from his forehead. "This oughta be good…."

"Or really bad."

"You'll be the most in trouble I think."

"I'd better be." The harsh tone in Mercurymon's voice made Grumblemon start in surprise. It was almost scary. "Now come on. Arbormon is in his cave, trying to stop grinning. He's so happy not to be a robot anymore that he can hardly take the mental strain. His too-logical side is trying to convince him that he should feel guilty but…"

"Eh, I like his treeish form better anyway," Grumblemon rolled his eyes.

Together, the two of them marched out to find their friend and…they supposed…turn themselves in and see what happened. On their way, it occurred to Grumblemon that Ranamon didn't even know this was happening for her. He shook his head in amusement.

"What?" Mercurymon asked.

"Ranamon," Grumblemon explained with a smile. "She has no idea."

Mercurymon smiled to himself in response.

"What's she doing now?"

"She's asleep….fainted, I think. She talked a digimon out of killing her, and then fainted when he got upset and tossed her out. I think it was just a little too much shock for her to take. As far as I know, she probably thinks he killed her."

"Why was he trying to kill her?" Grumblemon asked in disbelief. "Is her sector really that bad?"

"You'd be surprised," Mercuyrmon sighed. "But it was just an old fan of hers, who discovered like everyone else that she was vain and selfish, and that their high expectations of her were just hopeful fictions. He wanted to kill her because he used to adore her. It's a stupid concept."

"No kidding."

"But digimon are often confused. I think, if she can learn what she needs to, that she will be able to improve her sector a lot before she even gets close to finding Lady Marlinmon."

"Lady Marlinmon?" Grumblemon asked, puzzled.

"Oh yes…didn't I tell you? She's already Lady Marlinmon again."

"Already?"

"Ranamon is still like a spoiled child. She's selfish and vain, and very immature. But not evil. And she's quickly growing out of it. It's her heart that will change what Lady Marlinmon looks like."

"Weird," was all Grumblemon could say. It just seemed far above his head. How did Mercurymon understand all this about her anyway? It seemed he would have to ponder that question for a while.

-.-

Lobomon twisted the blade of grass in his fingers, staring at it intently. His attention was not on the grass itself, not was he even thinking anything about it. His mind was elsewhere…pondering everything that had been taking place lately. He didn't quite know what to think…and he knew that this whole situation with Ranamon was much bigger than any of them were being led to believe. But how much bigger?

He dropped the blade of grass, taking a breath and looking out across his sector from the top of a grassy hill. Everything was going smoothly, and it wasn't long before the quota of work that needed to be done for the day would be filled. Usually, the digimon under his leadership worked overtime…simply because they wanted to…but he figured he would give them a mandatory break today. The world was at peace. They should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor for a little while.

Turning, he walked down the hill toward the city below. "What is going on?" he asked himself. "Why do I feel like I'm missing something? Like something is changing, and I can't do anything about it?" He punched a tree next to him in annoyance. "It's frustrating."

But still….his minds kept working fast-paced to understand everything.

Mercurymon had been the first to point out that they hardly knew anything about who Ranamon was outside of being a Legendary Warrior. And Arbormon had been the one to point out that even now they didn't know anything about each other. It was true! Lobomon felt connected to Agunimon and the others, like best friends, and knew that he could trust his life to them. But he didn't know anything about _them_. Who were they? Where did they come from? Why were they chosen to become Legendary Warriors?

"It's got to change too," he murmured, stopping and smiling faintly. "I see it now. Lots of things have changed…we're not random spirits anymore. We're not just Warriors anymore. And we can't just keep going on not knowing anything about each other anymore. If we're going to work together, we need to understand each other." He made his way quickly into the city, and found some of the leaders of the small work groups he'd assigned. "Angemon!" he called.

Angemon flew towards him, offering a concerned expression. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "You look troubled."

Lobomon smiled, slightly astonished. He hadn't been showing any kind of emotion at all on his face, and yet Angemon could tell anyway. Angemon had always been very perceptive. "I'm fine. Listen…as soon as the quota is done, tell everyone that they're done for the day. No working overtime today…just tell everyone to rest. Okay?"

Angemon offered a knowing smile. "Have some things to do?" he asked.

"You could say that…."

"You have most of the perfectionists in this group," Angemon warned. "Most of them work simply because they like to. Your speech inspired them, so getting them to stop before they're tired will take some doing."

"Just declare it a holiday, and they'll take it," Lobomon chuckled. But he knew Angemon was right. He smirked to himself. "It was a pretty impressive speech, wasn't it?"

"MmmHmm. Now go off and do your thing before it gets to your head!"

Lobomon laughed, but offered Angemon and pat on the shoulder and a nod of thanks, before running back to the Legendary Warrior's hideout at top speed. He knew something was happening…changing. And he wanted to be a part of it.

-.-

Kazemon blinked in surprise, and offered a sheepish grin. "Oh, hi Beetlemon….what are you doing here?"

Beetlemon, coming into the hideout at the same time as her, offered a grin in return. "I'd ask you the same question! Did you finish early or something?"

"Well…..sort of…" she coughed. "I just…I've been thinking…and I feel like I need to come here and do something. I don't know what."

"Yeah, me too," Beetlemon admitted. The two of them walked into the center room, which looked like a large lounge for all of them to hang out in. "I kept thinking about what Arbormon said…that we don't really know each other…"

"Yeah!" Kazemon exclaimed. "It made me realize….Ranamon's not the only one who needs to change and learn things. We all do! And….I think I need to apologize to her. You know? I want to be friends with her, not enemies. I mean, ever since we became Legendary Warriors, there's always been tension between us. Competition. Like, about EVERYTHING!" She sighed and shook her head. "I don't want it to be like that."

"I know. Same with me and Agunimon. I mean, we're buds, sure. But there's always been some competition between us. And I realize we don't even know each other very well."

Kazemon laughed awkwardly. "This is kind of weird, isn't it? I don't exactly know what to say."

"Me neither." The two were silent for a moment, staring about the room. Finally Beetlemon frowned. "There's something else, too. Something big is happening…changing…and I don't know what it is!"

"I feel it too," Kazemon wrinkled her nose. "It's kind of scary. Should we be worried?"

"Maybe," a new voice added seriously.

The two looked up, then offered knowing smiles. "Hello, Lobomon," Beetlemon grinned. "Join the club?"

Lobomon smiled awkwardly. "I suppose. Look…I think I know what's going on."

"What?" Kazemon asked in surprise.

"It's got to do with Ranamon…and Mercurymon…and Grumblemon and Arbormon too. Can't you feel it?" Lobomon scowled. "There's something they're not telling us…something important. I'm worried about it."

"Well don't be worried anymore," came the calm, deep, sometimes annoying voice of Mercurymon himself. "We're here to explain it to you."

The three warriors who had come back to the cave turned to look toward the direction of his voice, and simply gaped in shock at what they saw. They couldn't even formulate words to express what they thought. In fact, they didn't even know WHAT they thought. All they could do was stare at Mercurymon, Grumblemon, and Arbormon's new forms. Or perhaps, to be more accurate…their old forms.

Mercurymon cleared his throat, looking down at the ground awkwardly. "Perhaps we should wait for the others to arrive…" he said slowly.

Grumblemon blinked, then glanced up at the tall warrior of steel in surprise. "They're coming too?"

Mercurymon didn't say anything, and just waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Agunimon walked hesitantly into the room. He stopped walking when he saw the trio of transformed digimon. Lowemon soon followed, though he only raised his eyebrows and came to stand next to Lobomon quietly. Finally came Kumamon, who instead of falling into shock like the others, gaped open mouthed and exclaimed, "WHAT THE HECK?" as loud as he could.

That managed to wake the others up from their state of silence.

"Mercurymon," Agunimon said tensely, pointing his finger at the metal digimon with an accusing expression. "I _know _that this is your fault. So I'm asking YOU to explain!"

Mercurymon smirked. "But of course," he said playfully. But he cleared his throat and grew serious again. "I sent Ranamon on a quest to find her true Beast Spirit. And I'm fueling it with my own data…since that's the only way I can make it happen." He paused and waited for a response.

"WHAT?" Beetlemon roared. "HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

Kumamon gave everyone else a weird look. "Am I the only one who doesn't get what 'finding her true Beast Spirit' means?"

Grumblemon grinned. "Maybe, but don't worry, we'll splain it to ya." He glanced upwards at Mercurymon.

"By sending her to find her true Beast Spirit, I am sending her on a quest to change. She has to grow, and change her heart, so that she can learn to step into the role she now needs to play. Every decision and choice and attitude she has will affect what her Beast Spirit looks like. And the process drains my energy." Mercurymon cleared his throat, looking like he felt kind of embarrassed about it. "I was persuaded to take help from Arbormon and Grumblemon so that the strain wouldn't kill me. But even that wasn't enough. Ranamon is taking the quest very seriously, and already her Beast Spirit has changed back into what it used to be. In the end, the three of us had to revert to our Mega forms."

"Was it really worth it?" Agunimon whispered, shaking his head with an expression of regret. "Couldn't you have just sent her on a quest? Without having to sacrifice being a Legendary Warrior?"

"It would not have been the same if she didn't have as much to lose," Mercurymon said seriously. But he sighed and stared down at the ground. "I know it seems like a waste to you, like a great loss. But there is something I have learned while being a Legendary Warrior. And that is, if I cannot lay myself down for my friends, I am no friend." He looked back up. "I would die for all of you."

"Me too," Grumblemon puffed up his chest proudly. "We may no longer have the Legendary Warrior status in your eyes, but we're still exactly who we were meant to be, and I wouldn't change that for anything!"

Arbormon smiled softly at the six speechless Warriors. "The Digital World has changed a lot in the way things work, and it seems to have done us a lot of good," he explained. "You six got the chance to go through something powerful and meaningful by being the spirits for the digidestined. Now it's our turn."

Lobomon smirked in reply, shaking his head like he was impressed by what they were saying. And for a long moment, the 9 of them just stared at each other. But it didn't last for long.

"Oh man…what are you going to tell Ophanimon?" Agunimon sighed, wiping his face with his hand. "She's going to be disappointed. I mean, you guys might not even be allowed to be Legendary Warriors any more!"

"We might," Arbormon replied thoughtfully. "For all we know, they may highly approve of our actions. And if worst comes to worst….at least we know that we have done our part. Who knows? Maybe this is for the best."

"So….that's it? You guys are just heading off to the chopping block?" Agunimon persisted. "I mean….we never even got to know you very well. And yet….you say you'd die for us. I just don't feel like I can say goodbye!"

"You might not have to," Mercurymon smiled secretively.

After that, it just seemed liked the conversation was over. When Mercurymon, Grumblemon, and Arbormon left for the Celestial Digimon's verdict, the rest of the Legendary Warriors went with them.

-.-

Long chapter, I know, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I always have so much fun writing this one. I just need to get more creative with what I do with Ranamon's quest. lol.

Let me know what you think!

-rika195


	6. Lesson Two:

**.:Ranamon:. **

-.-

Thanks so much to these awesome reviewers!

**Crazyeight, Zaerith-Chan, NerdyGanster, KingWaspinator, TeenWriterKimba**, and **HotShot14!**

You all are the best, and this chapter is dedicated to you. Thank you!

-.-

Digimon doesn't belong to me.

-.-

**Chapter 6**

-.-

_A black and shadowy shape hovered before her, arms like tendrils wafting their way toward her too slowly. Ranamon shivered, drawing backwards as the shape grew towards her. It did not walk, move, slide or swim towards her, just grew larger until it filled her vision. And then, as though from nowhere, the light of the moon fell down upon it and illuminated it for her to see._

_A giant octopus, thousands of hideous legs sprouting from its head, grew larger and larger toward her. It's body was mutated and ugly, a color between moldy brown and puse green, and gelatinous-looking in texture. The thing was horrifying, nightmarish, and the sight of it made her want to retch in disgust. She drew back further, shuddering in repulsion. What did it want with her? To eat her? Destroy her? What?_

_Then she saw it's eyes._

_They were huge, gaping things, taking up most of the face. They were pitch black, with deep ocean blue irises, and carried an expression of complete sadness and hopelessness. To see them was to look at death in the face and know that you had caused it. And that was when she understood._

"NO!" Ranamon screamed at the top of her lungs, a blood-curdling scream that filled the entire rain forest. Her body shuddered in uncontrollable spasms, and she threw her arms around her thin form to try and calm herself down. Several minutes of hyperventilating passed while she tried in vain to get the picture out of her head. What little logic her brain contained tried to convince her that it was just a dream, but she couldn't shake the horror away. Even the brightly lit sun falling on her back did not warm her up. She felt cold, down to her very soul.

That horrible monster, so much more revolting than any evil digimon had ever been before…there was no question what she was seeing in her dream. She couldn't deny it even if she wanted to.

"My…beast…spirit…" the words choked out of her mouth in a hysteric sob. "So sorry…so sorry…don't deserve it…I just…I'm not…it's not fair…"

Someone shook her roughly, and she gasped aloud as her face met the ground. In a flash she was standing, her mouth open in shock, and she turned around to see who was attacking her. It would have been nothing to call up a tsunami to destroy whomever it was, to completely obliterate the idiot who dared to touch her. And although she couldn't even see anything through her disorientation, the image of the hideous beast spirit she dreamed she was creating kept her from doing anything at all. She simply tried to focus on actually seeing what was before her.

"Ranamon?" a Gatomon asked, sounding as though he'd said her name a hundred times already. "Ranamon can you hear me? Are you alright, my Lady?" His eyes were wide with worry, and they darted up and down her frame, examining her as only cat's eyes could. "Lady you look ill!"

Ranamon focused on breathing. Desperately, she shoved the image of her dream from her mind, trying to place the face of the digimon before her. She knew him…yes she must know him. His eyes showed recognition.

"Please, come eat! You must have had a terrible night sleeping out in the open!" He took her hand—tentatively, as though she were fragile enough to break—and began to tug her towards a direction she couldn't even notice. The word "eat" seemed to register, and she took a second look at him. The Restaurant Owner. Was it him? "I should not have sent you out like that," he moaned quietly, distressed with himself. "I thought you would go home! It's dangerous in this area! Many mon would try to hurt you! Don't you realize that?"

Ranamon's torso quivered with a repressed sob as she took in a deep breath, and then let it out in a quiet sigh. Yes, she knew. She'd just experienced that. Although, she hadn't realized that she'd survived…what had caused her to not get killed? _Isn't it obvious? _She thought to herself. _Most digimon are better than you. And they do what is right. He realized that you must have been telling the truth, and although you deserved it, he didn't kill you. It just shows you need to…_

"Ranamon?"

Ranamon's thoughts jumbled together, and she blinked in confusion. She'd already forgotten what she was thinking. Sighing, she inwardly rolled her eyes. Why did she always have to be so disoriented in the morning?

"Ranamon are you alright?"

She sighed again, and then smiled faintly down at the Gatomon leading her back to the Village. "Yes," she lied. "I'm just not a morning person…"

Gatomon sighed as well, eyeing her with a doubtful expression. "You worried me. Why did you sleep out in the open like that? Are you insane? What are you trying to prove?"

"I'm not trying to prove anything," Ranamon pouted. "I don't have to prove that I'm an idiot. It proves itself. I didn't have any reason for sleeping out there either, I just…fell asleep." She figured that was the best explanation she could give that would make sense.

"Oh stop it," Gatomon scowled. There was a slight growl to his voice. "Putting yourself down doesn't do anything except make you miserable. It's all a lie, anyway. Everybody has their faults, but concentrating on them just makes you hopeless. It doesn't help you get better."

They entered the Village, and the sounds of digimon happily at work and play filled the air. Many were out socializing with each other, purring with happiness or talking about the latest rumors. Several gatomon fell strangely silent when they saw Ranamon being led in by the Restaurant Owner like a lost child, and Ranamon couldn't help noticing the disgust and anger in some of their eyes. It distressed her. But didn't she deserve it?

"I can see what you're thinking, and you'd better stop it right now," Gatomon hissed quietly. "It's not going to help you."

His words caught her by surprise. "What do you mean, 'help me?' What do you know?" she demanded. The unbidden image of her dream came back to her.

Gatomon paused, taken back by her words. "What do I know?" he demanded. "About _what? _About destructive thinking? I know all about it, thank you very much, and it never helps anything, it only serves to make you believe lies and feel miserable about yourself."

"Wait…what?" Ranamon scowled, utterly confused. This wasn't going where she thought it would. "I thought you were talking about my quest."

"Quest?" Gatomon repeated, his eyes showing genuine confusion.

Suddenly Ranamon became embarrassed. Surely these other Gatomon knew all the rumors. And yet here was one digimon who didn't care, who was genuinely and honestly worried about her. She shouldn't be treating him like he was some kind of spy for the Legendary Warriors, she should be treating him with kindness.

_Kindness…_

It hit her like one of Beetlemon's lightning bolts. "GATOMON!" She practically squeaked. She stopped walking and grabbed his shoulder, looking directly into his eyes. "Kindness!" She said, lowering her voice a couple pitches. "I forgot to tell you… I know the answer to your question now."

He gave her an exasperated look, and shook his head sadly. "Let's get inside," he replied slowly. He dragged her through the wooden doors and into the kitchen, sighing loudly. When he let go of her hand, he went straight to work, washing and chopping vegetables.

Ranamon stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching him work for a while, and then instantly felt guilty. Here she was, talking about kindness, when she wasn't even doing anything to repay the kindness he had shown her! She took a quick glance at the menu of the day—it was posted above the stove where anyone could read it easily—and nodded to herself when she read "clam chowder" in the soup of the day section. Without being asked, she went over to the sink and washed her hands.

Yesterday, Gatomon had stressed her washing hands after carrying wood, saying she couldn't prepare food unless they were sparkling clean. She liked being clean anyway, and she loved water. So it was easy for her to remember what to do. Looking around, she noticed the blue-handled knife in the clean rack, and grabbed both it and a potato from the bin. Peeling potatoes was boring, tedious work, and she wasn't very good at it, but it was the only thing she could think of to do. So, steeling herself for another boring day, she set the knife to the root and began to peel it.

-.-

Ophanimon sighed, staring out across the horizon from the balcony of her Castle. It was always sunny in this part of the Digital World, and even when it was night the stars would shine brightly upon the grass and make the flowers shine. It was beautiful, and breathtaking to look upon, but it did not ease the tension that she felt in her heart. "What is it?" she whispered. "What is happening that burdens me so? The world is at peace, and I sense no danger… and yet…"

"My Lady?"

Ophanimon turned, finding Nefertimon padding softly up behind her. "Yes, my friend?" she asked, smiling faintly. "We haven't talked in a while."

"I have a lot of work to do," Nefertimon smiled back, chuckling in that strange purr-like laugh of hers. "As do you. But that is not why I am here."

Ophanimon waited, knowing somehow that the answers she sought were soon to come.

"Seraphimon called, asking you to come to a meeting at his castle," Nefertimon explained. "He says the Legendary Warriors are there, and that it is very urgent that you come. It seems something has happened…"

It was enough. Wordlessly, Ophanimon spread her wings and darted into the air, spiraling upwards until she soared higher than the clouds. Surely this was the problem…something had happened with the Legendary Warriors, something that would change everything. Higher, higher she soared, outside the atmosphere. And then, closing her eyes, she stilled her wings and let her body fall, gaining speed every second. It was faster than flying, and much more exhilarating. And though it didn't work that way for anyone else, the faster she was moving, the easier it was for her to think.

The Legendary Warriors. Each and every one of them the top fighters in the world, the best of the top ten Elements. Fire, water, ice, lightning, wind, light, darkness, metal, stone, and wood. They were all the best, chosen and brought together by Ophanimon herself, and given the duties and privileges of Legendary Warriors. And she considered each and every one of them her children, that she loved and protected. It hurt her deeply when they were in pain, and she felt it was her failing when they fell to evil. Seeing them restored, and restoring the Digital World, it gave her such joy that she could not explain. If something were to happen to them…

Her falling slowed, and she stretched and flapped her wings once more, before alighting upon the roof of Seraphimon's crystal castle. Traveling this way always did get her places too quickly. Sighing, she floated down to the door and knocked twice.

Sorcerermon opened the door. "We've been expecting you, Milady," he bowed, pulling back the door and beckoning her to enter. "Your arrival was quick, as usual."

She smiled at him. Sorcerermon followed Seraphimon as selflessly as Nefertimon followed her, and it always made her feel blessed beyond belief to have such faithful companions. If not for them, nothing could possibly be finished on time. "Thank you, Sorcerermon," she replied gently, and swept past him into the castle. As she expected, everyone was already waiting for her in the Crystal Chamber. She took a deep breath of air, held it for a moment, and let it out in a large sigh. Whatever waited inside, she would be prepared. She would have to be.

And then she stepped past the door into the chamber and glanced upon the nine warriors waiting for her inside.

-.-

"You said you knew the answer to my question?"

The words caught her by surprise, and Ranamon dropped her half-peeled potato into the sink awkwardly. Hastily, she fished it out and rinsed it off, and turned to glance at Gatomon. "Sorry?" she asked.

He gave her a half-smile. "My question about kindness. You said you know the answer?"

Ranamon sighed heavily, finished peeling, and plopped the quickly-browning potato into the bucket beside her. It was halfway full, to the point where she could no longer count how many potatoes were there. At least six times as many as she had peeled the day before. "Yes," she said absently, starting another. "I guess it should have been easy to answer. I just….well I'm not the sharpest tool in the box…"

He sighed loudly. "Again with the negative thinking!" he shook his head. "Well, tell me. How would it be different?"

"Well," Ranamon said, feeling somewhat confused and proud of herself at the same time as she answered, "if I were to work with kindness instead of greed, then I would make sure to leave enough straw for others to pick up, and only pick up a few at a time as I worked through the field. Then I could fill up my sack, and so could everyone else!"

"Yes. That is the correct answer." But he did not sound very pleased.

Several moments of silence passed, and Ranamon peeled in confusion. Finally, she could take no more of it. "Okay, what's wrong?" she demanded, unconsciously taking on her bossy tone again. "Why are you upset if I gave the right answer? I learned kindness! Isn't that good?"

Gatomon stopped expertly chopping onions, and turned to give her a sad look. "Ranamon, you have learned _about _kindness, and what kindness _is. _You have not learned it yet. I admit, you are a kind digimon at heart, and it comes naturally to you. You don't realize it, but it's there. You still have to learn to practice it."

"But that's not it," Ranamon insisted, stamping her foot like an upset toddler. "You're mad about something else!"

"I'm not mad," Gatomon replied quietly. "I am worried. There's a difference."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"You."

Ranamon paused, suddenly feeling very strange. She wasn't feeling sad or anything, so why did she suddenly have this urge to burst into tears? Her lower lip trembled slightly, but she resisted the feeling and steeled herself. Instead, she lifted her chin and asked, "why?"

"You are proud, Ranamon. Even when you are putting yourself down and telling yourself lies like you're worthless or no good, you're proud." He looked her square in the eyes, shaking his head. "It's not good for you to be proud."

"I'm not proud," Ranamon complained weakly, although she knew she probably couldn't deny it. Or shouldn't deny it. "And what does being down on myself have to do with pride? That's like…the opposite of pride."

"No it isn't," he rolled his eyes. "Seeing yourself any other way than the truth is pride. You think you're all that? You let it go to your head when you do something well? You consider yourself above other digimon? That's pride. So is the opposite. You think you're worthless? You think everyone else is better than you? You focus only on your flaws and use them as an excuse not to try? That is pride too. Anything that isn't the truth about yourself is pride, Ranamon. And you know what they say about pride."

Ranamon opened her mouth to reply, and then hesitated. What did they say about pride?

"Pride comes before a fall," Gatomon quoted tiredly. "In other words, something bad always happens when you believe and act out anything that isn't true about yourself."

"I guess I can see that…" Ranamon mumbled. Although this conversation was only serving to make her feel more depressed, and more and more like bursting into tears helplessly. "So what should I do?"

"You have to learn humility," Gatomon answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And you have to learn truth."

"Wait, isn't humility the same as being low on yourself? All that 'woe is me' kind of thing?" Ranamon snapped. "You're contradicting yourself!"

"No, I'm not," Gatomon replied. He flashed a smile mischievously. "Humility is completely different."

"So what is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast! I'm not going to just tell you everything! That wouldn't be fair." He grinned, flipped a fish that he was frying in a pan, and then motioned toward the kitchen doorway. "If I just told you everything, you wouldn't learn anything at all."

"You sound just like Mercurymon," Ranamon mumbled under her breath. "Let me guess, I have to go out and do something."

"You have to go around and ask digimon what humility means." Gatomon couldn't stop grinning, like he was sharing some kind of joke with himself. "When you figure it out, come back and tell me. ALSO!" He scowled, the sudden change of expression looking kind of silly on his wide-eyed face. "If you don't figure it out by the end of the day, come back anyway! I don't want you wandering around in the dark with no place to stay!"

"I have plenty of places to stay," Ranamon argued self-righteously. "I have a home! I just…"

"Aren't going back," Gatomon finished for her solemnly. "Ranamon…look. I'm not sure what exactly you're doing. Some kind of quest, as you've already said, but I'm not going to pry. I just know that you aren't going back until you accomplish what it is you've set out to do. And if I can help you, I will to the best of my abilities. I promise that."

And this time she couldn't quite stop the tears from blurring her vision. "I…Gatomon I….don't know what to say…"

"You could say thank you," he prompted with a grin. "And you could eat your food." He produced a plate covered with an artistic dish of spinach and oysters, a cup of chowder, and a piece of warm garlic bread on the side. "I've spent the last whole conversation making it, so if you'd do me the honor of eating it, I'd be very pleased." He handed it to her and shooed her out, making her promise she'd come back.

Ranamon followed his orders, carrying her plate to an unoccupied table and thoroughly enjoying every bite. The restaurant was crowded, happily families and friends talking and eating and purring, filling the building with a constant murmuring of happy noise. It was only the middle of the day, and yet, the atmosphere and filling food made her feel incredibly drowsy. The Hall of Heroes never felt like this…

"Hey, look! It's Ranamon!" a young gatomon called loudly from the other side of the restaurant. "Hey Ranamon, whatcha doing way out here, huh?" he slipped off his seat and came forward, leaning his arms on her table with a sneer. "You think our village needs your supervision or somethin'?"

Ranamon sighed. She half expected something like this to happen. Didn't she deserve it anyway? "Sorry, I'm not here to supervise," she said as gently as she could. It was hard for her to act kind when she felt like snapping. What was it Gatomon said? To _practice _kindness? Something like that. "I'm just here because it's the best seafood in the whole world, that's all." She smiled, lifted her fork with a bite, and stuck it into her mouth as smoothly and professionally as she could. And of course, she had always been very good at eating properly.

"You bet it's the best," the boy gatomon snorted. "Better than you deserve!"

"Probably," Ranamon allowed. "But only gatomon know how to catch and serve fish." She flashed the smile she knew could dazzle anyone, and lifted her cup of water in a toast to the young cat digimon. "To the best fishers in the world!" she took a sip, licked her lips, and set the cup down. By the time she finished her little show of being cheerful despite his obvious attempts to spurn her, the expression on his face had changed. He was already looking at her like she wasn't as bad as he'd thought before.

And for some strange reason, it didn't make her feel any better.

"Okay well, don't stick around," he answered eventually, looking as though he almost wished she would. "We don't like you around here."

Ranamon sighed. Why was it so easy to charm people? All she had to do was act cute and pretty, and people softened up like butter. They'd do anything she wanted if she spent enough time working on them. But it wasn't right! "I wont," she whispered, even though he'd already left and joined his group of friends. She couldn't help noticing that they were all gatomon as well. In fact, the only digimon that wasn't a gatomon in the whole town was her.

It wasn't right. They shouldn't be separating like this! Digimon should get along with each other, not grow secluded like they were! It was…wrong. She stood, heading towards the door as a heavy feeling weighed down upon her. She knew full well that it wasn't this bad in the other sections. Everywhere else, digimon worked together happily to rebuild the world that Lucemon destroyed. And in her section, everything was chaos. How could she possibly fix this in time?

She walked out into the bright sunlight and headed for the trees, determined to find out everything about her entire sector. After all, she didn't even know who lived here, or what work needed to be done. It was long past time to find out.

"Lady Ranamon! Lady Ranamon! Remember me?" a ball of flying white fur suddenly threw itself into her arms with incredible force. It was Salamon, the same little cat that had comforted her when she was depressed only a day ago. And it was happy to see her.

"Of course I do!" Ranamon smiled. She was inexplainably drawn to and soften by adorable little cute things, and Salamon was no exception. She cuddled the little digimon in her arms with a giggle. "How could I forget one of the sweetest, kindest digimon I've ever met?"

"I'm not that great," Salamon purred. "But thank you anyway!" It stared up at her questioningly. "Where are you going, Lady Ranamon?"

"I'm going for a long walk," Ranamon answered carefully. "I need to do something I should have done a long time ago. So, I wont be back here for a few days. Do you think you could tell the Gatomon who owns the restaurant that for me? I'm sure he'd like to know."

"Yeah I'll tell him." Salamon giggled. "Can I come with you?"

"No, I don't think your mother would like that…" Ranamon grinned fakely. She distinctly remembered the little digimon's mother's words. _Why are you hanging out with that lousy excuse of a digimon? She's worthless, and I don't want you hanging out with her type…_

"Well, okay. But you'll come back, right?"

"Of course. Thank you." Ranamon scratched the child's ear, then cocked her head to the side. "Say, do you think you could help me with something before I go?"

"Sure! But I'm just little…I can't do big things…"

"That's okay, I was just wondering if you know what humility is. Do you know what it means?"

The little salamon looked up at her questioningly. "Humily? I don't know. But I know what humble means…."

Ranamon thought it over. Same thing, right? It worked. "Okay, what's that?"

"Humble is when you aren't too proud ask for help when you need it," she responded, speaking as though she were quoting something she'd heard in digimon school. "Is that what you need?"

"Yes, it's perfect," Ranamon cooed, kissing the little cat on the head. She set Salamon down and began walking again. "Thank you! And please don't forget to tell the Restaurant Owner what I said!"

"I wont!" Salamon called, and hurried off at a frightening speed.

And feeling as though there might be some hope for her after all, Ranamon set off to find out just how much work she had to do.

-.-

_Wow, long time coming, and not even that great. Sorry guys, it's been crazy. I will try to update more often. Thank you so much for your patience. Again, I owe you guys. So thanks._

_Critiques? Questions? Comments? Etc? That's what the green button's for. ^_^_

_Rika195_


	7. Humility Part 1

**.:Ranamon:. **

-.-

Thanks so much to: **Zaerith-Chan**, **Crazyeight**, and **HotShot14**

You encourage me so much with your reviews, and give me the strength to continue even though my time to write is short. Because you were my only reviewers for last chapter, and you all gave such helpful and insightful reviews, **I have a gift for you**. I will write each of you three a one-shot story featuring any Digimon character you want, just for you. Just tell me in your review what you'd like, and it's yours. Because I love this story, and you were the only ones who supported me to keep going last chapter.

Thank you.

To everyone else, I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to review, and I'm so sorry your life is busy. I understand and sympathize, and I still thank you for reading this as you can. It means a lot to me. I hope I'll see you again this chapter.

-.-

_Digimon doesn't belong to me._

-.-

**Chapter 7  
**

-.-

Ranamon sighed, brushing away large leaves and branches as she tramped through the Island's vast jungle, muttering to herself. She was so small, only a foot taller than Kumamon, and so all of the plant life seemed to be just large enough to make it nearly impossible to get through. "We need to put a path through here," she complained out loud. "Some of us weren't made to wander through the jungle undergrowth!"

Even as the words came out of her mouth, she decided it was a good idea. If there wasn't a path already, she would plan to put one in. Or several.

"Connect every village with a trail," she said happily, the idea growing on her. "Everyone's so isolated…maybe it will encourage travel between them!" She shoved aside a large fern and stopped to take a breath, wiping her forehead dramatically. "Alright….so now that I'm out here….what am I looking for again?"

There really wasn't anyone around to answer back, which made her feel that much more lonely. She didn't even know where the closest town was! Maybe putting signs up would be a good idea too.

"It looks like I'm going to have to write down a plan," she mumbled. "I'll probably forget all of this in the next few minutes." But she had nothing to write with until she got to another town. "I'll just keep going in this direction, and I'll probably end up _somewhere_…" She kept going laboriously.

After several minutes, she tripped on a root and landed on her face, spitting dirt and leaves angrily. This was becoming a nuisance! Lifting her head out of the dirt, she glared forward at nothing in particular until she calmed down. And then she blinked.

"Hey, there's less stuff down here!" she exclaimed. And by stuff, she meant large ferns and vines and branches. Growing pleased with her size for the first time that entire day, she continued forward on her hands and knees.

She made much more progress that way.

-.-

"Papa!"

Salamon practically flew into Gatomon's arms, and her speed alone might have knocked him over, but he was prepared. She always flew at him like this, and he enjoyed her energy like he enjoyed cooking—it made his spirit soar. Grinning, he caught her and twirled her around, then set her on his shoulder so he could continue to work in his kitchen. "Hello my princess!" he purred. "What brings you to my kitchen today? Are you out of school already?"

"Yes," she purred back, rubbing against the back of his head. "We had a half day today."

"Oh?" he flipped his fish in his skillet, savoring the smell. He loved cooking fish. It was such a joy to fry it to perfection, the lemon-butter taste dripping with juices a perfect topping…

"We learned about heroes today. It was fun!" She stared at the aromatic fish, licking her lips. "I'm hungry."

Gatomon laughed and slipped her a piece of shrimp. She made it disappear in less than a second. "Heroes huh? Which heroes?"

"The Legendary Warriors. Bokomon the Historian wrote a new book, and my teacher says every school has to read it." Salamon sighed at the prospect. "But I liked the stories we read today. Did you know that Lady Ranamon was the Water Princess before she became a Legendary Warrior?"

Gatomon paused, his whiskers twitching in though. Interesting that Ranamon should come up in their discussion. He wondered how she was doing with her mission to learn about humility. It was practically depressing how little she actually knew. But it made sense if she had been the Water Princess first. She would never have gone to school if that were the case. "No I didn't know that," he replied after a moment. "But she acts like one, doesn't she?"

Salamon giggled. "Yes. She's silly. She didn't know what humily was! I had to tell her."

"You mean humility," Gatomon corrected with a chuckle. "She asked you huh? That's good…"

"Uh huh. She wanted me to tell you something too!"

Gatomon paused again, this time with an inkling of worry. Oh no…what was Ranamon doing now? "What did she say?" he asked quickly. "Where is she going?"

"Into the jungle," Salamon replied casually. "She wants you to not worry. And um…she says she has to…um….fix things. Or…find out something. I can't remember what she said." She sat there and thought about it for a long time, not realizing that her father was growing more and more tense. Then she gasped. "Oh that's right! She said she has to do something she should have done a long time ago, and that she wont be back for a couple of days. But she said not to worry about her."

"Did she now?" Gatomon murmured, staring off into space. He knew that he shouldn't worry like this, but Ranamon seemed so helpless. Not that she couldn't protect herself in a fight, or even that he owed her any kind of teaching or fathering. But he could tell that she was struggling inside to unlearn herself, and then learn again what she did not know. He couldn't say why he knew this, but he had always been perceptive beyond what was normal. He could just tell, and there was no one else reaching out to her. No one else cared. And he couldn't in good conscience just ignore her and let her find her own way. She reminded him too much of his daughter, for some reason.

Salamon giggled. "No, she didn't say for you not to worry. But I could tell. I can tell a lot of things just by looking at digimon."

"That you can," Gatomon nodded, going back to his cooking. He soured when he found that he'd let the fish get too dry. Now he'd have to fix that…. "You're like a little Ophanimon, you are!"

"Not like THAT!" Salamon purred. But she blushed and jumped off his shoulder. "So don't worry about Ranamon, okay Papa? I know she'll be okay. She really does want to learn!"

"I know," Gatomon sighed as his daughter left. "I know."

But it still made him feel helpless.

-.-

The look on her face alone was all that was needed to shake him, to make him think again and ask himself, _was it worth it? _He never thought he'd see her look so sad…so _betrayed. _Dropping his gaze to the floor, Mercurymon found that he had lost the power to speak. _Ophanimon…I'm sorry…_

She stepped forward, her hand outstretched, and then faltered. Abruptly her emotion left, and a cold blank expression washed over her. Agonizing seconds of silence passed, and then she took a breath. "What have you done?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. _"What have you done?" _

"Hold on here!" Agunimon jumped in bravely, stepping in front of everyone else and glaring defensively. "Give us a chance to explain before you jump to any conclusions. At least grant us that!"

The fact that Agunimon was the one speaking, as though it was him who took the blame, brought Mercurymon out of his guilt. He lifted his head in one quick snap, and his intense gaze brought instant silence to the room. _I have not forgotten why I have done this, _he thought, meeting Ophanimon's gaze without quailing. He stepped forward and nodded at Agunimon, who stepped back in both surprise and deferment. "My Lady," Mercurymon spoke, bowing upon one knee. "There is one of us not present here before you."

"As I see," Ophanimon answered coldly. "And where, pray tell, is she? What is Ranamon doing? Why do I see three of you here who have rejected the status of Legendary Warrior? Why have you abandoned that which you swore to? Have you forgotten your oaths to serve and protect as Legendary Warriors for all eternity?"

Mercurymon lifted his face again. "No," he practically growled. "We have not forgotten. May it please your Ladyship to listen, and she will see that far from abandoning our oaths, we have given even more to uphold them."

A flicker of surprise crossed her face, but then she scowled. "I will listen," she said firmly. "I always listen. But you know that if you cannot satisfy me, I will have to execute the penalty regarding this breaking of your oath."

"It is not broken, and you shall soon see." Mercurymon rose, and took a deep breath. _Please understand, my Lady. It is you who has taught us to be more than we are…to sacrifice for others. Listen well…_ "But if you do not see, if you hear our story and do not understand, then I alone am to blame. For this was my doing, and I never meant for the other two to be dragged down with me. I swear it."

"And I cannot accept your oath, not when your other one stands on trial. Speak quickly, Mercurymon. I will never overlook a failing like Cherubimon's ever again. I _must _be stronger, to execute the law regardless of my feelings."

Mercurymon nodded. They all still lived in fear of being evil. Cherubimon had never really recovered from the memory of what he put Kouichi through. "I understand."

"Then proceed."

He took a breath, and began to explain. "Since the restoration of our world, and the humans took their leave, our duties as Legendary Warriors have changed. We must be upholders of Justice and Peace, as we used to, and we must defend our Zones from evil. But now also we must reunite all the digimon living in their separate villages as one, so that the mistakes of the past will not be reborn in the new generations to come. We must also rebuild things that were destroyed so that Peace can once again rule our lands, with no fear of strife coming from unhappiness within villages. Is this not true?"

Ophanimon nodded. "It is," she said.

"Then you understand that when you chose us to protect the world, you did not chose us to be leaders, or judges, or anything for that which we are doing now, correct?"

"I chose the strongest warriors, for that is what we needed," Ophanimon confirmed, her expression becoming puzzled. Already, her wisdom and insight was informing her of what Mercurymon was about to tell her, as though she was surprised she herself had not thought about it.

And Mercurymon smiled. He knew that it would not take much for him to convince her of his reasons, but Seraphimon and Cherubimon—who were also present—had not quite caught up yet. They remained silent and frozen, as though they couldn't understand what had happened to the Legendary Warriors, whether to be angry or sad. So clearing his throat, Mercurymon continued to make himself as clear as he could. "My Lords and Lady," he said smoothly, bowing again to them in respect. "We were and are the finest warriors that this world has ever seen, bred and trained all of our lives to excel in battle. And we swore our service to the good of the digital world. We hold to those oaths, with all of our hearts. So hear my words and pray, seek to understand them!

"But things have changed. The duties required from us are beyond that to which we swore and agreed upon, and change must occur within ourselves before we are fit or able to continue in our duties. One cannot do what they have not first learned to do, let alone lead in something they themselves have not experienced. So it is with us. Agunimon, Lobomon, Beetlemon, Kumamon, and Kazemon had undergone serious and drastic changes, because of the humans who controlled their spirits. They have become like the humans, with the ability to stretch beyond their digital limits, to believe in themselves and in others, and to act in justice, love, and respect. They have been changed. As for the rest of us…"

He paused, letting his words sink in for a moment as he took a few breaths. He looked behind him, and both Arbormon and Grumblemon gave him firm, supportive glances. Then they stepped forward and joined him.

"We too have changed," Arbormon spoke, smiling first at Mercurymon and Grumblemon, and then to his Celestial Leaders. "When we were finally purified of our corrupted data, the memories of being evil tormented us, driving us to change ourselves so that our very behaviors would not remind us of it. Fear helped us to change selfishness into a desire to help others, and to change a desire for power into a quest to become just."

"Even how we speak," Grumblemon added quietly. "Sometimes I hate myself for being evil so much, I have to be something completely different. I can't be the digimon I was."

Cherubimon shivered slightly, his eyes closed in pain. And though they all felt it and knew it, they would never remind him that it was his fault they too had become evil. They couldn't and wouldn't inflict that pain on him if they could.

Mercurymon sighed and spoke up again. "All of us have been changed, and have driven ourselves to become something more than what we were, because we remembered the oaths we swore as Legendary Warriors. But all of us knew _how _to drive ourselves. We had been taught, and we learned. The only one who could not, nor did she know how, was…"

"Ranamon…" Ophanimon whispered, dropping her head with a sigh. And for a moment, there was silence. "I knew her situation…I knew that she was as empty as a shell found on the beach. But she was strong. I…rescued her…gave her the chance to get away from that life…to be something more. But now…"

"Now she cannot fulfill her duty as a Legendary Warrior," Mercurymon said gravely. He let his words fill the silence.

"And now she's left? She cannot face me? Is that why you three stand before me reverted to your former Megas?" Ophanimon lifted her head, the expression of pain back in full force. "I don't understand!"

_"Then let me explain," _came a new voice. And everyone but Mercurymon turned in surprise to see a bright, vague outline of a powerful and beautiful—but very, very ancient and extinct—water digimon standing in the center of the room.

Ophanimon's mouth dropped open slightly. "And who are you?" she asked in surprise.

The water digimon smiled and bowed her head respectfully. _"I,"_ she whispered, almost as though she was laughing to herself in delight, "_am Marlinmon, Queen of the Bodies of Fresh Water. Or at least I was, long ago. Before your time, dear child."_

Seraphimon gasped, as though he recognized her, and stepped forward. "You are one of the Nine!" he blurted. "One of the Nine Ancients who used to rule the Digital Plane before it became its own world!" He knew this because he had studied Ancient History fervently, because he strove to understand the mistakes of the past and refrain from making them in the future. He considered it valuable to remember, and so it did not surprise Mercurymon that he recognized Lady Marlinmon.

_"I am honored that you remember us, Lord Seraphimon. Though there are none left but me." _She smiled sadly. _"I have been very careful to remain as alive as I can, to keep watch over this world. And you yourselves have given me the means to continue to exist. I thank you for that." _

Cherubimon cleared his throat hesitantly. "But how have we done this?" he demanded. "I have never heard of you."

"I believe I can explain that," Mercurymon cut in, smirking his signature smirk. "It is because you gave us Legendary Warriors each a guardian: a Beast Spirit to aid and protect us in our fight against Lucemon."

Realization dawned on their faces, and Ophanimon looked at Marlinmon with new appreciation. "You are Ranamon's Beast Spirt," she said slowly.

Marlinmon smiled and inclined her head. _"I am Ranamon's Guardian." _

-.-

"Going somewhere?"

Ranamon stopped crawling, and pulled herself to her feet with a sheepish smile. She brushed mud and dirt off with a laugh. "Trying to," she said, looking about her. "I don't suppose you can direct me to the nearest town?"

The speaker dropped from a tree above her, landing a few feet away. He was a Vegimon, complete with vine-like tentacles and a gaping mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. It was like he was trying to defy anything that ate vegetables. But though his teeth were very noticeable, his most distinctive feature was the colorful leaves that grew from his head like a large fan of feathers. They were red with blue tips. Very striking. Ranamon wasn't sure whether to be afraid or not, and opted for being friendly. She showed him a smile.

"I could," the Vegimon laughed, and something about his laugh made her skin crawl. "But I think I'd rather not. You're trespassing! And we don't allow trespassers here!"

"Well there was no sign," Ranamon countered with a huff, crossing her arms. "I don't think that's very fair. Do you?"

"Don't care." Vegimon lashed out a tentacle into the ground, and a bunch of pokey vines sprouted around her and strangled her.

"Hey!" Ranamon screamed, and automatically raised her hand, causing acid rain to fall and burn away the vines. She was starting to get angry. "You can't just attack a mon like that without reason! Now you may think I'm trespassing but there's no sign! Besides, we're at PEACE! There's not supposed to be any hostility between villages!"

"Yeah? Well there is, moron!" He lashed out again, zapping her with a shock of electricity from his tentacles as they wrapped around her. It was only static electricity, since that was all he could conjure, but water conducts electricity so well it caused her a greater shock than it would have someone else. He laughed in delight at her scream. "What are _you _gonna do about it? Huh?" He tossed her to the ground.

Furious, Ranamon drew herself up to her 4 feet and some odd inches, shaking with held in rage. As she lifted her hand to call down acid rain, she let her voice take on a powerful edge. "I am Ranamon," she hissed, "Legendary Warrior of Water and Leader of this Zone! It is my responsibility to unite the villages and rebuild that which is broken. I have _every _authority to _do something about it!_"

Realizing that he was dealing with someone much more powerful than him, Vegimon quailed away in fright. "Y-y-you didn't say you were Ranamon!" he blurted. "How was I to know!"

Ranamon froze, her hand still in the air, and seethed out between her teeth, "Everyone knows what I look like, fool! We have built-in detectors! Just as I recognized you were a Vegimon, you knew I was Ranamon! Didn't you?"

The Vegimon nodded his head up and down as fast as he could. "Alright, I knew! I knew! Just don't kill me! Everyone's mad at you right now! I was just….it's just cause you're a lousy leader, and nobody wants you to lead our Zone! I was just following orders to make sure no one trespassed, even you!"

Ranamon's eyes widened, and she dropped her hand abruptly. It fell like lead, her anger dissipating with it. That's right…everyone hated her. Because she was a lousy leader…because she was lazy, pretty, and good for nothing. She dropped her gaze to the ground. How could she have forgotten? She was a worthless digimon, good only for looking pretty and for fighting. They didn't need someone like her leading them!

But in her heart, she felt guilt for thinking those things. That surprised her. Why would she feel guilty because she knew she was worthless? And even as she pondered this, Gatomon's words came back to her.

_"You think you're worthless? You think everyone else is better than you? You focus only on your flaws and use them as an excuse not to try? That is pride too. Anything that isn't the truth about yourself is pride, Ranamon. And you know what they say about pride...Pride comes before a fall."_

She sighed and sat on the jungle floor, hugging her knees. "But what_ is_ the truth?" she whispered. "Who am I if I'm not worthless? I'm not a leader. I don't know how to work or rebuild, or reunite my Zone. But somehow it's still pride if I think that I'm useless, or pathetic, or that I'm not good enough. What _should _I think then?" She looked up, surprised to see the Vegimon still there, staring at her in confusion. She had forgotten he was there.

"Are…you asking me?" Vegimon blurted? "What _are _you asking me anyway? Are you alright?" He looked at her hesitantly, like she might jump up and attack him or something, but she looked so lost and helpless that he couldn't help coming forward and sitting beside her in sympathy. She was such a cute digimon. How could he not soften up toward her?

Ranamon sighed, sucking in a breath to keep the tears from slipping out. "I don't know," she answered hopelessly. "I'm trying to figure out the truth about myself. I know that I'm not a good leader yet. That I need to learn. I know you guys deserve better than me to help you out with rebuilding and reuniting us as one world that works together in Peace. But I don't know how to do that, even though I know that I have to do it. There is no one else, it has to be me! So I've got to learn, and do my best for all of you. The only thing is, I don't know how! All I've got to go on is that I need to practice Kindness, and I need to learn Humility."

The Vegimon was silent, as though her words astounded him.

"Vegimon, tell me about Humility. What does it mean? What is it?"

He scratched his head. "Gosh…I dunno….I always thought it was when you got all sad and woeful. Or when you apologize to someone you've wronged. Oh, and when you admit someone is greater than you. That's humility too. I think…."

But that didn't seem quite right. Frowning, Ranamon thought about what Gatomon had said. "Gatomon says that humility is completely different from the 'woe is me' kind of thing. But he wanted me to find out about it by asking other digimon. He said it would help me learn it."

Vegimon snapped his tentacles like a whip, which Ranamon took for his version of snapping fingers. "I get it!" he cried. "You learn humility by asking others, because humility means you don't think you're too good to ask for help! Because you have to admit first that you don't know everything, and that someone else probably knows better, and then you learn something from them!"

And that seemed to make more sense. "Huh," Ranamon said, cocking her head to the side as she thought about it. "I can see that. Because if I felt too proud to ask others what it meant, then I wouldn't learn to admit that I could learn from someone who isn't as good a fighter, or as old as me, or anything like that. I see now. Thanks!" She smiled and Vegimon, and kissed his cheek. "That helps."

He blushed, but then grumbled a bit. "You're still trespassing," he mumbled. "And you're right that you're not good about running this Zone. But…." He sighed and rubbed one of his hair-petals. "But I'm sure you can learn. Just keep trying your best, and use the skills you do have to help you learn new ones. I'm sure you'll do okay if you just keep at it. And even if it takes a long time, you'll win everyone over, I'm sure of it." He smiled his toothy smile.

"Oh, thanks Vegimon!" Ranamon hugged him, and stood up. Her energy was renewed, and her spirit lifted by his encouragement. "You're right, and I wont forget it. Now, please can you take me to your village? I need to make a map of my Zone, and chart all of the villages in it. You see, I think we should build some roads between villages to make travel easier, and build signs so that everyone knows where they're going, and how far away things are! I think it will make rebuilding faster, don't you?"

"Well….we don't get along with other villages," Vegimon scowled.

"You don't have to right away! But it's got to start somewhere, and everyone needs to make an effort. Just think of how much good you could bring to the digital world! There are skills only Vegimon possess, and no one knows about them because you're all cooped up! Don't you want to make a difference? To be known and appreciated for who you are?"

Her words were so heartfelt and emotional, that had she asked him to be her slave for the rest of his life he would have done it. Eagerly, he jumped up and yelled "HURRAH!" in agreement. Her excitement was that contagious.

Giggling, Ranamon took his vine-like arm in her hand. "Please lead the way, Vegimon, and let's get this work started. I know now what I have to do, and I'm going to do it no matter what. Even if I don't know Humility very well, I understand enough to get me going. And even though I have a lot to learn, I know that I still have a lot to offer to this Zone. And I'm going to do my best. Are you with me?"

"Yeah!"

Together they sped through the jungle to the hidden Vegimon Village. But as they went, Ranamon thought back over her conversation, and everything that had taken place, and began to feel sad. How easy it had been for her to make him change his mind, and follow her almost blindly.

_It's too easy, _she thought despairing. _I'm still a manipulative wretch, and I could convince anyone to do anything without even trying. It's…horrible. Hypocritical. I don't want to be like this…I don't want to be evil…_

Shivering, she kept her smile plastered on her face, despite the dark and heavy mood that was now smothering her heart. She was still a witch. A selfish, manipulative witch. And it tore her apart.

-.-

_Wow, long time coming. Sorry guys, it's been crazy. I will try to update more often. Thank you so much for your patience. Again, I owe you guys. So thanks._

_(_Don't forget,**Zaerith-Chan**, **Crazyeight**, and **HotShot14**, that you get to pick any digimon character and I'll write a short story for you, any kind of story you like! So let me know in your review, alright? Thanks again for supporting me with your reviews!_)_

_Critiques? Questions? Comments? Etc? That's what the green button's for. ^_^_

_Rika195_


	8. Humility Part 2

**.:Ranamon:.  
**

…Humility Part 2

-.-

To my incredible reviewers, to whom I owe the inspiration to continue this story,

**HotShot14**

**Crazyeight**

**Zaerith-Chan**

**GIGA-XISBASS**

**xXjOuRnEyXx**

**xtradizy**

**CatHatGirl**

**BenjiBly**

**Rubberman2025**

**09cloud**

THANK YOU! I wish there was some other more expressive way of saying it. Like, Domo Arigatou Gozaimasu! Except that just doesn't translate into English. Ah well. I am VERY VERY VERY thankful for your support. This chapter is dedicated to you!

-.-

Digimon should have belonged to me.

It should have.

But it doesn't.

-.-

**Chapter Eight**

-.-

"There it is," the Vegimon said, beaming. He indicated in front of them with his tentacle arm. "Home sweet home! Isn't it beautiful?"

Ranamon nodded eagerly, taking in the view of the quaint little village. The houses were made entirely of plants, in hollowed out trees with windows and doors, and in large, upside-down flower-looking houses. There were flowers and gardens everywhere, and a creek flowing through the center of the village. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed as they stopped in the very middle of it all. She spun around excitedly. "Oh it's just _darling_! I wish _all_ the world looked as lovely as this!"

The Vegimon beside her swelled with pride. "Yes," he said. "It is wonderful, isn't it?" He looked up as the inhabitants of the village started coming out of their homes and gardens to see what was happening. It was not surprising that most of them, upon seeing Ranamon, became angry or simply returned home and closed up all the doors and windows.

Ranamon felt her face fall. She knew it was her own fault they felt that way about her. "Hi there…everyone," she called out timidly, shrinking closer to her Vegimon guide. She tried not to look scared as most of the entire village gathered around the two of them.

"Everyone!" the Vegimon called out bravely, whipping his tentacles together in a snapping motion for their attention. "I've brought Ranamon to our village because she has something she wants to say to us. I think we should listen before we do anything else!" He pulled himself up to his highest height proudly. "Then we'll decide what to do about her trespassing."

Around them, the Vegimon grumbled and argued with each other until they reached an agreement, and then settled down to listen. Their pointed stares were anything but friendly, and Ranamon tried her best to be brave. Swallowing, she clearing her throat and began to speak. "Hello, Vegimon Village. I have very important things to tell you."

"Like _you'd_ have anything important to say?" one of them sneered, and others joined in his laughter.

Ranamon lowered her head in shame. "You're right to despise me," she said sadly. "I've been a horrible Zone Leader, and I've acted irresponsibly. That's why I'm here. I wanted to tell you all personally that I'm sorry, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make it up to you." She lifted her head and looked at them all in the eyes. "Please accept my apology."

There was a moment of stunned silence, before several voices broke out in argument. Many yelled that she was a liar, trying to gain sympathy with them like always. Others complained that at least she was apologizing, and maybe they should give her an ultimatum. A few children questioned their parents, saying that they'd learned in school to apologize and forgive each other, and shouldn't they do that for Ranamon?

As the turmoil of voices died down, the Vegimon seemed to finally decide on a reply. One of them stepped forward. "You know you've caused this entire Zone a lot of distress," he said accusingly, his rows of teeth gleaming menacingly in the sunlight. "You're lazy, good for nothing, and you've never helped anyone but yourself! Now it's all well and good that you apologize for this. But how do we know anything is going to change at all? We have no guarantee that you're going to suddenly grow up and be a good leader."

Ranamon fidgeted with her fingers, looking down in shame. "I know," she said quietly. Try as she might, she couldn't keep her emotions from stirring up inside her, and tears started to build in her eyes. "I know I'm lazy, and I haven't been a good leader. But I really am sorry! And I'm going to act differently from now on. I promise!" She lifted her head and met their gazes. "I have a plan, too! At least…I've got the start of a plan. But…" she hesitated. "But you're right, I'm not all that good at this sort of thing. I'm going to need your help."

Around her, no one moved or spoke. They just stared at her silently, expressions of distrust and aggression on their plant-like faces. "What, you want to make us work all of a sudden?" the one who had spoken before piped up. He grumbled angrily. "Gonna turn us into slaves or something?"

Ranamon waved her hands emphatically. "No! No nothing like that! What I mean to say is, you all have this wonderful village, and you know how to run it! You're smart, and you're used to knowing how to improve and take care of your village so that it doesn't fall into decay! I don't know half the things you do, and I'm going to need your advice!"

They waited, mumbling amongst each other for a while. "Advice?" another one said suspiciously. "That's it?"

"Well yes," Ranamon blurted. "I'll try to do most of the work myself, of course. But there's going to be times when I need your help to do it. In the beginning, I'm going to need your advice and expertise so that I don't mess things up. I know that I'm not good at many things, but I'm sure that that can change with your help!" She made a fist determinedly, staring upwards into the sunny sky. "My plan is to connect all of the villages and towns in my Zone with trails and roads, and signs too! That way each village's special and unique skills and trades can spread further too. Just picture it…your expertise on gardening makes you incredibly unique. What if you could trade your vegetables for things you don't have, and can't make yourselves? You become known for having the best quality vegetables all over the Zone, and maybe even further! Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"We're not on good terms with the other villages," another one argued. "We don't get along! What if they don't agree to this?"

"But don't you see?" Ranamon pleaded. "If you agree first, everyone else will follow _your _example! We're supposed to be at peace already. Let's make that happen!"

More discussion broke out, and complaint after complaint was thrown at her until she felt that she could fall over from exhaustion. But she held on, determinedly trying to get them to see her vision, to see how they had something unique that only they could contribute to the world. It seemed like hours before the debate was over, but it happened so suddenly, she could hardly believe it _had_ happened. The conversations simply ended, and the town was filled with silence.

The Vegimon who had led her here turned and faced her. "We've decided," he said, grinning widely and showing his sharp fanged teeth. "Your plan is a good one, and we will help you start your map of this Zone, and chart our village on it. After you're done charting all the villages and towns, you can return to us, and we will help you build trails and roads from place to place."

Ranamon sighed, feeling her tears suddenly surfacing again. This time, she could not stop them from streaming down her cheeks. "Oh thank you!" she cried out joyfully, hugging him. "All of you! I wont let you down, I promise! Thank you!"

The Vegimon blushed, grinning. "Well, we're just glad to know that you've finally stepped off your high horse."

She stepped back, beaming at all of them. "And I'll never climb back onto it!" she promised. Laughing and letting the Vegimon lead her through the town, she tried hard to talk with each one that showered her with conversation. They took her on a tour around the place, showing her everything and bragging about their gardens. One of them brought out a large papyrus parchment and a reed ink pen, and began to diagram the village on it for her. She watched in fascination, asking questions and wondering if he could teach her how to do it.

And for the next three hours, she found herself busy with all of them, wondering how they could go so easily from hating her, to loving her so quickly. The thought should have been encouraging, but it was just the opposite.

_I'm still a hypocrite, _she thought mournfully. _I can make anyone do anything so easily. My manipulation knows no bounds. Will I always be a fake? Forcing people to do whatever I tell them, while making them think that they want to? _

She didn't even try to cheer herself up, although her face smiled on the outside. It was too dark and depressing of a thought.

-.-

The hall was silent, the three Celestial Digimon standing in awe of the ghostly figure of Lady Marlinmon before them. Nine of the Legendary Warriors stood across from them, also watching.

_My Lords and Lady, _Marlinmon said, her voice weak but surprisingly amused, _my name is Marlinmon, but once I was called AncientMermaimon. I ruled with nine other Ancients in a time long before yours. As you have heard Seraphimon say, only nine of us are remembered. That is a long story for another time. Now, I am Marlinmon, my Mega Beast-Form before I was AncientMermaimon. I am Ranamon's Guardian._

"So you have said," Cherubimon replied, acknowledging her introduction. "What is it that you would say to us?"

She smiled and inclined her head._ I ask that you allow me to tell you what has happened here, in my own words, before you give your verdict. For I believe that you will not get the whole story from your faithful warriors. _She turned humored eyes upon Mercurymon. _They're much too modest. _

Mercurymon glanced away for a moment, almost annoyed, but quickly turned his attention back to her. He was surprised to see her manifesting so vividly, as her strength relied on his and the other two who had given up their Legendary Warrior status. After all, he could barely feel the strain.

"Proceed," Ophanimon said, nodding her head. Her eyes locked with Seraphimon's, and they seemed to share a silent conversation. But she made no other comment.

_You know that when the Human children came and possessed the spirits of the Legendary Warriors, their beliefs and virtues also became part of the spirits they controlled, _Marlinmon began. She gestured to the six warriors she spoke of. _Even Lowemon changed from a dark and brooding creature into someone who can have and can exercise hope and justice. Then too, these other three have strived to change themselves to fit the new duties they are required to take on. _

"And Ranamon," Seraphimon said softly, "was once a princess. She could fight and look pretty, and could never make herself do more than that. We only chose her because she was the greatest warrior of water that existed."

"That's not really an excuse," Ophanimon frowned. "Just because she wasn't brought up to be more than that does not mean that she does not have the capability."

_True, _Marlinmon nodded. _So Mercurymon agreed. He sent her on a quest, using his own data to fuel it, to seek me: her true Beast Spirit. _She paused as the shock registered on the Celestial's faces. _He instructed her that she must change, and that she must learn to do what is required of her, or else she will fail, and she will lose me. He did not shirk from telling her that it was her own fault for her situation, and that she alone must change and learn what she does not know, or she will never be able to continue as a Legendary Warrior. But he did not tell her of his own sacrifice. _

Mercurymon shifted awkwardly, not feeling that his part in this matter had to be stressed so much. The situation was much more dire for Lady Marlinmon, after all. She was the one whose appearance and abilities would change depending on Ranamon herself.

"You are fueling this change with your own data?" Ophanimon asked, her voice devoid of emotion. It was clear that she was not pleased about it.

"I am, my Lady," he said honestly. "I alone know how to do it, and Ranamon will listen to me when she will listen to no one else. I believe that it is my responsibility to try to help her, in whatever way necessary. For if one of us is unable to perform, all of us are affected."

_There is more, _Marlinmon interrupted. Her eyes glinted, still amused. _Ranamon has taken Mercurymon's words very seriously. She has begun to try and change herself rather than try to find me, and these changes are not superficial. Her heart is changing, and through it, she is becoming what this world needs: a Legendary Warrior who can do whatever is required, and honor her vow without fault. This would not be possible if these three were not willing to sacrifice their own data to make it happen. We must never forget that digimon are simply data. They cannot just change without some great force causing it to happen. You know this, Ophanimon, better than anyone else. _

Ophanimon turned to Mercurymon, Grumblemon, and Arbormon, as though avoiding the remark that had been aimed at her. "Why did you revert to your former Megas, and abandon your Legendary Warrior forms?" she demanded.

Grumblemon cleared his throat, glaring defiantly up at the other two. They were both still taller than him. "I'll answer this one," he said gruffly. "See, Mercurymon tried to do it on his own, in secret. He didn't want to go back to his old Mega. So when me and Arbormon found out, we forced him to let us help. We all share a special friendship, the four of us, just as the other six have their human connection thing." He grinned and then shrugged. "Thing is, Ranamon's taking this so seriously, and changing so drastically, that it required more than we could give. We had two options…"

"Give up, and let Lady Marlinmon die and Ranamon alone to figure things out without our aid," Arbormon spoke up. "Or we could sacrifice our Legendary Warrior Megas to uphold what we believe it, so that we can continue to keep our vows to protect this world, together as the ten united Legendary Warriors." He bowed his head. "This is the hardest to understand, I think. But without all ten of us able to work together as one, we can't function as we should. All of us are able to move on except Ranamon, and until we are united in mind as well as ability, we will never be the Ten Legendary Warriors you called us to be." He looked at the Celestials gravely. "We know that this change has caused you pain, and insult. But we never meant for it to be that way."

Mercurymon nodded slowly. "In my heart, I have not broken any of my promises to you or to anyone else," he said quietly. "I did what I believed I must do, in order to keep them. I alone have instigated this, and I claim all the blame. I will accept the consequences of this."

The hall became silent for a long, long time.

_Forgive me, _Marlinmon cut in, her voice weaker. _I cannot stay here any longer. But I will say one last thing before I go. Look into all the world, into all ten Zones to see what you will find. I promise you that you will find peace of a kind that has never existed before in the history of our world. Things have changed, dear Celestials. And because of the changes and sacrifices these leaders are willing to make, this peace will last like none other has lasted. _

And with a smile, she faded completely from sight.

After a time of pause and silence, Ophanimon lowered her head. "I need time," she said slowly. Her face was clouded with conflicting emotions. "Wait here for an hour, while we discuss what we are to do with you. Then we will have our verdict."

Nodding, Mercurymon bowed one last time to them, and led the other eight warriors from the room. He glanced sideways at his two friends, the ones who had sacrificed their forms along with him, and tried to smile.

"Stop it," Grumblemon grinned. "Don't go telling yourself that it's your fault we got into this. Cuz it ain't true. We had a choice, and we made it. You're just going to have to deal with it."

"I guess so," Mercurymon smiled sadly. He sighed, watching as Seraphimon closed the great door behind them, and hoped that the conclusion they came to would not be too severe. _Whatever it is, _he thought determinedly, _I will accept it. _

But waiting was always so hard.

-.-

"What do you think?" Vegimon asked, pausing at the edge of the Village beside Ranamon as she prepared to leave. He looked up at her, only six inches taller than he was. "Did it go the way you planned?"

She smiled, holding up the beautiful parchment map of her Zone with the Vegimon Village drawn carefully in place. "Better," she said. But even as she spoke, her face fell.

"Then what's wrong?" he insisted.

"Oh I don't know…" Ranamon sighed, staring outward at the wilderness around them. They had given her directions to the nearest village, so that she could continue plotting all the villages on her map. "I just feel like, even though I'm sorry, and I'm trying my best to change and be a better digimon, that I'm still the same old me I've always been." She hung her head, letting her tears slip out from her eyes.

"I don't think you are," the Vegimon chuckled, his colorful petals shaking a bit with his laughter. "Otherwise, you wouldn't even be aware of yourself, and how you're affecting others, now would you? It's like humility. Remember?" He cocked his odd head to the side, studying her. "You were pretty concerned about being humble a little while back. Is that what you're so upset about? You think you're not humble enough?"

Ranamon blushed. "I…well it's just…I'm not…" she stopped herself, then sighed. "Well yeah…I just don't feel like I get it. Humility is supposed to be different from the 'woe is me' thing, but it still isn't thinking too highly of yourself. But I don't know how I'm supposed to have it, or get it, if I don't even know what it is!"

"I don't think you're supposed to worry about it," Vegimon said thoughtfully. "I mean, the more you think about it, the more you're thinking about yourself, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So if you're humble, then you're not thinking about yourself. You're thinking about others. When you care more about other digimon than yourself, then you'll act in humility without even thinking about it, and you wont put yourself down at the same time!"

Ranamon stared at him with her mouth hanging open, before realizing what she was doing and closed it as quickly as she could. "I guess so," she said slowly. Her mind tried to grasp the idea, and somehow, it made sense to her. "So if I want to be humble, then I need to think more about what I can do to help others than what I can do to help myself?"

"Seems about right to me," the Vegimon grinned. "I think you should give it a try. And anyway, you're already doing that. I mean, just the fact that you're going around apologizing, and trying to do a lot of good work all on your own before asking the rest of us to pitch in, means you're already acting the right kind of humble."

"It still feels like I'm manipulating everyone," Ranamon sniffled. "And I don't want to! I don't want to make anybody do something they shouldn't have to ever again!"

"Sometimes we all have to do things we shouldn't have to," Vegimon sighed. He shook his head at her sadly, as though pitying her for just not getting it. "That's life. The part that counts is that you do what you can, and ask for help when you need it. And don't make others do things you can do yourself."

Bravely, Ranamon took a breath and tried to calm down. "You're right," she said firmly. "And I've got to remember that." Swiftly, she leaned down and hugged his eggplant-shaped body in a warm hug, then kissed the top of his head. "Thank you, Vegimon, for everything. I couldn't have done any of this without your help."

He blushed, grinning wider than before. "Aw shucks," he said gruffly. "Don't mention it. Just go out and chart out those villages, and we'll be ready to help you start building roads and signs. Alright?"

"Alright," Ranamon said, stepping back and throwing a fist into the air with renewed determination. "I'll do my best!" With a hopeful wave and a brisk jog, she set off into the wilderness for the Lunamon Village to the East, gazing behind her every once in a while to watch the Vegimon's home fade away. "I wont forget," she promised, her mind setting in stone everything he had said. "I'll always do my best to remember."

With renewed spirit and a vision for her Zone, she set off to complete her work. Soon, she hoped, she'd be ready. And then she could find her true Beast Spirit.

-.-

_Wow, long time coming, and far too short. Sorry guys, it's been crazy. I will try to update more often. Thank you so much for your patience. Again, I owe you guys. So thanks._

_Critiques? Questions? Comments? Etc? That's what the review button's for. ^_^_

_Rika195_


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